One Heart
by princessjasmine12
Summary: What happens when people start to get suspicious of something between Mr. Fitz and a student? Will A spill the news to everyone about Aria's secret relationship? Read and Review please!
1. Chapter 1

I slowly raised my hand up to the door and knocked, while contemplating if I really should tell him what I was about to tell him. Before I had a chance to decide if I wanted to run away, the door to apartment 3B swung open, and there stood Ezra, with a worried look on his face. "Why weren't you at school today?" he asked, as he pulled me inside and quickly closed the door behind us. "I-I wasn't feeling good." I said quietly, as he wrapped his arms around me. "I missed you," he whispered in my ear. As I looked up, I noticed how beautiful he really was. With his piercing blue eyes, smooth skin, and gorgeous smile; he was perfect. And he was all mine. I reached up and stroked his cheek before leaning forward to kiss him. Our mouths met and I kissed him passionately; I don't think he realizes how much I love him I thought to myself. When I finally pulled away for air, his lips did not move from my skin, moving to my cheek, then trailing down my neck. "I love you" he whispered in my ear. A huge smile spread across my lips as I whispered, "I love you too."

When the sun went down, we found ourselves curled up on his couch talking about my parents' attempt to get to know Ezra better. "After that beer with your dad, things got much better and I think he actually likes me now!" Ezra said happily. "And you're mom seems to have liked me since we met at the movies that night." Aria smiled. Now that both my friends and my parents like Ezra, when the time comes after high school to tell them that we are dating, things might go pretty smoothly! Now I wonder how Ezra's going to react when I tell him that my friends know we're dating... Aria thought to herself.

"I told my friends about us." I said, exhaling a deep breath. Ezra slowly looked up from our entwined hands. "Y-you what?" he asked nervously. "I told them. And they don't mind at all." I said, as a small smile formed on my lips. "Are you sure we can trust them? What if they tell?" Ezra contemplated. I looked at him in disbelief. How could he think that my best friends in the world would ruin something so important to me? "Of course we can, Ezra. I trust them completely, and they would never do anything to hurt me," I reassured him. He smiled his beautiful boyish smile that never failed to send my heart racing. I leaned forward, slowly closing the gap between us. As our lips met in a sweet embrace, I pulled him closer, wanting this perfect moment to last forever. _Screw age difference__,_I though. _We are meant for each other, no matter what anyone else says._

_This is my first ever fanfic. Read and Review please! I don't know where I want to go with this story, so if you have any idea's let me know! _


	2. Chapter 2

**Anyone know how to upload to FF using Pages on a Mac? For some reason, it won't let me and I had to use a PC to upload the first chapter. Anyways, thanks for the reviews, they are much appreciated! Enjoy!**

Suddenly, we heard a loud knock on the door. "Are you expecting anyone?" I asked worriedly as I jumped out of his arms. "No... I'm not," he said as he got up off the couch and walked over to the door to look through the peephole. I heard Ezra take in a sharp breathe, before I heard him whisper, "It's the principal! Hide!" I quickly made my way over to his bathroom and hid in the shower. However, on the way there, I realized that our cell phones were lying side by side on the couch. _Hopefully the principal does not see them! He'll start to ask questions about why an English teacher has two phones._ I made sure to be as quiet as possible, trying not to breathe.

As Ezra slowly opened the door, he noticed that the principal looked annoyed. "Hello, Mr. Nory," "Hello Ezra," he said. "Do you have any idea why I'm here?" he asked Ezra. Ezra tried to look as innocent as possible; "No, I don't." Mr. Nory looked at him intently and said "I received a tip about you, saying that you are dating one of your students… from some person who goes by the name of A. They left a note on my desk saying that you have been spending a lot of time with one particular student, not only inside the classroom, but also outside of it." Ezra was thankful that Mr. Nory did not notice Ezra nervously fumbling with his fingers. "Is this true? Is this A person telling the truth?" he asked Ezra. "No, it's not true. You know I would never do anything like that. That would be illegal. And besides, I already have a girlfriend." Ezra said reassuringly. "I trust you Ezra, however, if I do find out that this is true and that you really are dating one of your students, I'll have to fire you and you will end up in jail. Not only would that be illegal because she would be your student, but also because she is a minor. Ezra quietly replies, "I know that. I would never do anything like that." The principal took one last look at Ezra before turning to leave. "That's good. I'm glad to hear that this is not true. I'll see you on Monday Ezra!" Ezra gave one last smile and quickly said "good-bye!" As Ezra closed the door, he called to out, "Aria!" "Wow that was close!" I said as I emerged from the bathroom and started walking over to Ezra. Suddenly, there was another knock at the door. Ezra looked through the peephole to find the principal standing there again. "Hide!" he said as he turned away from where I was. He took a deep breath and opened the door again; portraying the most innocent smile he could muster. The principal just stood there staring at Ezra for a second, as Ezra stared back. "Is-Is everything okay?" Ezra asked. "Did I just hear you say Aria?" Mr. Nory asked. "As in your student, Aria Montgomery?" I held my breath. _Ohmygod_ I thought. "Yeah I guess you did... I'm just grading papers and I have a tendency to read them out loud. Helps me to grade them. Sorry"

The principal just stood there, looking skeptical about the whole situation. What seemed like hours later, he finally turned around to leave. "I'll see you on Monday" Ezra called to him. "Goodbye Ezra." he replied back.

This time, I waited two minutes until I came out from my hiding place in Ezra's shower.

I found Ezra sitting on his couch with his head in his hands. "Who is A?" he asked, as I walked up to him. "I have no idea," I said breathlessly as I curled up beside him. "What do they want?" he asked quietly. "I really don't know. I wish I did. They're just messing with Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and I and trying to ruin our lives." I said sadly. "Aria, why would someone want to do that to you?" he asked, as he looked at me intently. "I have no idea." I said; wondering the same thing. My thoughts trailed back to the past. _I'd never really done anything so awful that I deserved a compulsive stalker to ruin my life and all my relationships... had I?_ "Actually... You have" a voice in my head said. As tears started to run down my face, I quickly tried to wipe them away, hoping Ezra wouldn't see them. However, I was not quick enough. Ezra's fingers brushed softly against my cheeks as he wiped the tears away. "What's wrong honey?" he asked softly with a loving look in his eyes. "I already told you, it's okay that you told your friends. I don't mind. If you trust them, then so do I," he said to me. I shook my head. "That's not it." I paused. "I'm scared Ezra. What if A tells someone about us? Do you realize what would happen to you? I'm not risking much, but you, you're risking your job, your life, your dreams, everything, all for me. I don't even deserve someone as amazing as you." I said, keeping my head down as tears continued streaming down my face. "Hey," he said as he lifted my chin up so he could look into my eyes. "I don't ever want those words to come out of your mouth again. I love you. And without you, there would be nothing worth living for. How could you for one second think that I wouldn't risk all that for you? Don't you know how much I love you?" I smiled as he leaned down to kiss me. _He really does love me_ I thought to myself.


	3. Chapter 3

After having to turn down Ezra's offer to stay over, I finally arrived back at home. The house was dead silent and the only light on was in the kitchen. I looked at my phone; it was only 8:00. _They can't be asleep already_, I thought. I walked into the kitchen to find my parents sitting together whispering at the table. They looked up as I entered the room. "Aria. Sit down." My mother commanded. Suddenly, my phone chimed with a text. My mother looked at me suspiciously. I looked at my phone to find a text from A.  
Be ready Aria, a lot of secrets are going to coming out tonight! Your teacher/student fling may just be one of them... -A  
I gasped as I read the message. "Who's that from?" my mom asked. "uh... just Hanna." I lied as I quickly shoved my phone into my pocket and sat down.  
A moment of silence passed before my father spoke. "Is there something you would like to tell us?" he asked.  
What in the world? I thought. What could A have possibly told them? I gasped again as it all came to me. _Ezra..._  
"N-no not that I know of." I said. My mom got up from her chair and went into the living room. She came back with a piece of paper in her hands. Before setting it in front of me, she said, "I received this in the mail. From some person who goes by the name of A. Do you know who that is? And would you mind explaining to us what this note means?" She asked me.  
I picked it up from the table to read it as I said, "I have no idea who A is," not wanting to tell them about my stalker for the past few months. I knew that if I told them, they would tell the police, and A would make sure to get back at me.  
**You should ask your daughter about the extra curricular activities she has been doing with a certain teacher. I'm sure you would be interested. And as they say, like father, like daughter. -A****  
**"Oh my god" I whispered.  
"So you understand what they're talking about?" My mom asked. "Care to explain?"  
FLASHBACK:  
_I came home from Ezra's apartment to find my mother sitting on the couch crying while holding a letter in her hands. She looked up as I walked in. "Mom? I have to tell you something." I said. "It's important. There's um... There's something you should know." She looked back down to the letter in her hands. "Mom?" I asked. She slowly got up, and gave the letter to me, while slowly walking away with a distant look in her eyes.__  
__I looked at the letter. "Your husband is having an affair. I'm sorry you had to find out like this. If you don't believe me, just ask your daughter. She knows all about it. -A"_  
"What is this person talking about Aria?" My mom asked angrily as I snapped back to reality. I looked up to meet her eyes. "I-I have no idea." I said, trying to look as innocent as possible. However, my mind was racing, thinking of all the trouble it would cause for Ezra and me if my parents found out about us. She looked at me skeptically. "I really don't know mom." I pleaded. She looked at me blankly for a moment then sighed. "Okay, Aria. I really hope you're not lying to me. We promised no more secrets."  
"I'm not mom. I promise." I said and smiled. "I'm going to go get ready for bed, okay?" I said as I made my way to the stairs. "Okay sweetie, good night," my mom called. _God that was close_ I thought.  
I ran to my room and closed the door behind me. I quickly called Ezra and he answered after two rings.  
"Hey" he said. "Ezra." I said. "What's wrong Aria?" he asked, sensing my discomfort. "A sent my mom a letter. About you. Kind of. It said that I've been spending a lot of time with a certain teacher and that my parents should know about it. And then at the end it said, 'Like father, like daughter.' you know, because my dad had an affair with one of his students a year ago." I burst into tears. "Oh my god do you realize what they would do to you if they found out about us?" "Aria calm down. It's okay. Maybe it's better if they found out. Do you think they would understand?" "NO!" I shouted into the phone. "I'm in love with my English teacher! They'll kill us both!" Suddenly, my door burst open. My mom stood there, frozen in the doorway. My eyes widened as I noticed how tense she looked. "I got to go. I'll call you later." I quickly said as I hung up on Ezra. "Mom? What's wrong?" I said, getting off my bed and making my way over to the doorway where she stood. "Did-did you just say you're in love with your English teacher?"


	4. Chapter 4

My heart skipped a beat. Quickly, I regained my breath before she could notice anything. "Well he is cute, isn't he?" I asked innocently.

"Aria." My mom said, trying to stifle a laugh and sound stern at the same time. "You're

right, he is cute. But he's your teacher. Don't get your hopes up." "Yeah you're right, it's

just a silly schoolgirl crush." I said with a small smile. "Good." My mom said. "Because

you sounded pretty serious when you said 'I'm in love with my english teacher.' Are you

sure it's nothing more than that?" My mom asked suspiciously. "Of course not." I said

quickly. "Besides, I'm not really in the mood to deal with boys. After Ali and all." My mom

just laughed.

"Well I came up here to tell you that I made some cookies if you want any. They're on

the table." "Okay thanks mom." I said, hoping she was done asking me questions. She

turned to leave, but stopped for a moment, before asking, "Does Mr. Fitz have a

girlfriend?" I looked up, debating how I should answer the question. "Yeah. Yeah he

does."

The next day during lunch l I decided to go talk to Ezra. I peeked inside his classroom to

find him sitting peacefully at his desk, twirling a pen in his hand as he graded papers. As

I opened the door, he looked up with an alarming look on his face. As soon as he saw

me, it quickly turned into a smile.

"Hey." I said after I closed the door and walked up to his desk. "Hey yourself." He said

happily. "So listen..." I said. "My mom heard us talking last night. That's why I hung up

so quickly. She heard me say 'I'm in love with my english teacher, they'll kill us both."

Ezra's eyes widened.

"What did she say?" He asked with a worried look on his face. "She just asked me what

I meant by that. And that she hoped I didn't have a crush on you because she said I

would never get you." I said with a smile. "If only she knew..." He laughed. Suddenly, the

door to Ezra's classroom burst open, and my mom walked in. "M-Mom, what are you

doing here?" I asked. "I just wanted to ask Ezra about a book he's having you read next

semester... What are you doing here? Why are you spending lunch with Mr. Fitz?

Shouldn't you be with your friends?" She asked suspiciously. "Um, well I just had to ask

Ez-uhh a question... about the homework assignment." I said, knowing Ezra

would play along. "Oh I see." My mom said, not quite buying my excuse. "Remember

what we talked about, Aria. It's not going to happen." She said to me. Ezra tried to look

confused, even though he was trying to stifle his laughter. "So, thanks for your help Mr.

Fitz, bye mom." I said as I hurried out the door.

"Where were you?" Emily asked with a worried look on her face as I joined her,

Spencer, and Hanna at the table. "We've been looking for your for the past fifteen

minutes." "Oh. I was talking to Ezra." I said as I lowered my voice. "About how much you

love each other?" Hanna asked, teasingly. "Shut. Up." I glared at her as Emily and

Spencer burst out laughing. "No." I said. "About how my mom heard me say that I'm in

love with my English teacher." I said as the girls all gasped. "Did she ask you about it?

What did you say?" Spencer asked. "Uh.. I just tried playing it off as a schoolgirl crush...

I hope she bought it, because she didn't seem completely convinced." I said as we got

up from the table to go to our next class. "All I know, is that we need to be more careful."

I said with a sigh.


	5. Chapter 5

"For your homework tonight, I'd like you all to read chapters 4-6 in To Kill a Mockingbird and fill out your study guide for those chapters." Ezra said as the bell rang.

I grabbed my bag and started to walk out of my favorite classroom before I heard my name. "Miss Montgomery, stay behind please, I need to talk to you about your grade." I turned around and set my things on top of the desk in front of Ezra's.

Once everyone had left the classroom, he closed the door and the blinds, and sat in the empty desk beside mine. "How are you?" he asked me. "Fine." I sighed. "My mom knows something's up... I think we need to tell her... Both my parents."  
"Okay. What do you think they'll say?" I looked up to meet his gaze.  
"I really don't know..." I said.  
"Well..." Ezra said as he shifted in his chair, "the reason I told you to stay after class was because I was wondering if you wanted to get away for a weekend. With me?" He asked, with a smile on his face.

"Ezra Fitz. Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I said with raised eyebrows. I watched as he pulled out two plane tickets and handed them to me. I gasped as I read the destination on them. "Hawaii?" I gasped. "You've got to be kidding me." Suddenly, the bell to third period rang. "Crap, I'm gonna be late!" I said as I jumped out of the chair and swung my bag over my shoulder. "Aria! It's okay! I'll just write you a note." Ezra said as he grabbed a pen from his desk and scribbled something on a sheet of paper.  
"Think about it. See if you could get one of your friends to be an alibi." I laughed. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Hanna still can't get over how hot she thinks our relationship is." I giggled.  
He laughed as he gave me a quick kiss before I headed out the door.

I slowly walked through the hall, wanting to miss as much of Algebra II as possible. When I finally arrived to my classroom, I handed my teacher Ezra's note, and quickly took my seat beside Hanna. She smiled at me as she took out her phone under her desk and sent me a text.  
**Hanna: You two make me sick ;)****  
**I laughed as I typed back.**  
****Aria: Shut. Up. :)****  
****Hanna: Lol he couldn't take his eyes off of you all class. Every time he looked away, he ended up looking back.****  
****Aria: I don't blame him. I am one of the few pretty girls in his class )**  
This made Hanna roll her eyes, as she started to send a reply.  
"Hanna, Aria, is there something you'd like to share with us?" Mrs. Sage asked angrily.  
"No, sorry." Hanna said, smiling widely before hiding her phone under her leg.


	6. Chapter 6

**I want to say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review; it really makes me happy. Also, I'll try to make the chapters longer from now on; I know they've been really short. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars. **

That night, I was going to go to Ezra's to spend one more night alone with him before our trip. I grabbed my purse and made my way towards the front door. "Where are you going?" I heard Mike ask from the kitchen.

"Spencer's. I'll be back in a few hours." I said as I walked out the door.

Ten minutes later, I finally reached his apartment and made my way up to the third floor. I paused when I heard a chorus of laughing girls come from the other side of the door. I took a deep breath before knocking and hoping that Ezra wasn't hiding girls in his apartment.

_What if he's cheating on me?_ I thought. _Don't think that Aria. He loves you._ I tried convincing myself. Suddenly the door swung open.

"Is she-" Ezra said.

"Hey." He said, as soon as he spotted me. "How long were you standing there?" He asked as he gave me a quick kiss.

"Aw you two are so cute." I heard a girly voice chime from inside, that I immediately recognized as Hanna's. I would know that voice anywhere. I titled my head to get a better view of the inside of his apartment so I could see who was inside.

It shocked me to see Hanna burst out laughing, and Spencer and Emily smirking alongside her, all sitting together on the couch.

"Wha-what are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Mr. Fitz asked us to help you plan your trip." Hanna said.

Ezra and I made our way over to the couch as I said, "his name is Ezra."I then I turned to Ezra. "And you... You don't know what you just got yourself into," I said, shaking my head.

"Nah... I think I'll stick with Mr. Fitz." Hanna stated.

"So.. Hawaii... That's pretty impressive Mr. Fi- I mean, Ezra" Spencer chimed. "Anywhere for Aria," he said happily as Hanna burst out laughing.

Two hours later, the girls decided to head home, leaving Ezra and I to be alone.

"That was... interesting." Ezra said as he walked back over to where I was sitting.

"I warned you," I said, grinning, as I snuggled up to him and put my head on his chest.

"Are you excited?" He asked as he played with a piece of my hair. I titled my head to look up at him.

"To go to Hawaii with my amazing boyfriend? How could I not be? I'm sitting here trying to contain all my excitement and not jump for joy!" I laughed.

I closed my door, and stood in the middle of my room surveying everything around me. I didn't know how much I could trust my parents that they weren't going to go through my room while I was gone, so I needed to get rid of or bring with me anything too obvious about Ezra or where I'll be going.

I climbed on top of my bed and pulled off my boots, before grabbing my phone to call Ezra. He answered after the first ring.

"Hey" I said as I got up off the bed.

"Hey! What's up?" He asked.

"Not much, just starting to pack for our trip!" I said excitedly as I grabbed a suitcase from my closet.

"Me too. I just double checked, and our flight is on time." He said.

"Great. Oh! Also, I don't want to leave my car at your apartment, so I'm going to have my mom drop me off at Spencer's house tomorrow, and you can pick me up from there. Is that okay?" I said as I ruffled through my socks drawer for white socks.

"Will her parents be there?" He asked.

"Uh, no. They have some dinner thing they have to go to." I said as I threw three pairs of socks into my bag.

"That works. I better finish packing too, so I'll see you tomorrow." He said.

"Can't wait! Love you."

"You too." He said, before he hung up.

I tossed my phone onto my bed and turned to my closet, in search for cute outfits that would complete this weekend. Twenty minutes later, I surveyed the outfits on my bed.

For the day on Saturday, I had chosen a short strapless navy dress with a black belt at the waist and black flats. I had paired a black blazer with an emerald green tank top and Hudson jeans with black pumps for the night.

For Sunday, I'd opted for something more summery; a green and black Betsey Johnson dress with black sandals, and a black miniskirt, a blue ruffled tank top, and a black sweater for night. I walked over to my bathroom in search for my blow dryer and make up bag.

When everything was finally packed, I picked up my phone to call Spencer. As I dialed, something caught my eye.

I put down the phone and went over to the chest by my bed to pick up the book. The book I took from Ezra's apartment when he left me.

I rubbed my fingers across the front, feeling the rough texture of the cover. I sighed as I opened it to the title page and reread the familiar inscription. "When you need to leave Rosewood... Ezra."

All to painful memories flooded through my mind as I remembered homecoming night; the night he left me. He thought he was doing me a favor. How wrong he was.

_*Flashback _

"_Because... Because I can't take you to the movies. I can't take you out to a nice restaurant. And for the record, I could never hate you. I figured you'd be here tonight... A new haircut, wasn't... to impress Mrs. Welsh... I got to go."_

*_End Flashback _

As I came back to reality, I walked up to my closet and grabbed a duffel bag. There was no need to think about the bad times. I was going to Hawaii with Ezra! I carefully placed the book into the bag. I ruffled through the rest of my room, taking anything suspicious about Ezra and putting them inside.

When I was finally done, I zipped the bag up and placed it on the bed next to my suitcase. Everything was done. I looked at the clock and realized that I had an hour to waste before I could head over to Spencer's.

I grabbed my mascara and started to apply another coat. I jumped when I heard a knock on my door. I turned to find my mom standing at the door way.

"Someone's jumpy today." She remarked.

"You-you startled me, that's all." I laughed.

"So you're all ready for your trip?" Ella asked, as she walked into my room and sat on the bed.

"Yeah. Spencer's so excited. Going away to look at colleges' is probably her favorite pastime... Besides doing homework of course." I laughed.

"You're all packed?" Ella asked, gesturing to the bags on my bed.

"Yep." I said, turning back to my mirror to finish applying my mascara.

"What is all this stuff?" My mom asked as she started to rifle through my bag full of 'Ezra tokens.'

"Why do you have a plastic spoon in here?" She asked, with a confused look on her face as set the spoon back inside and picked up Ezra's book. My heart skipped a beat as I saw what was in her hand through the mirror.

"S-stop. Don't touch those. Please." I exclaimed before hurrying over to the bed and grabbing the book from her hand. I stuffed it back into the bag and zipped it up.

"That-That's just stuff the girls have left here over the years. I was cleaning my room and found a ton of their stuff." I lied.

"Why would you give them back a plastic spoon?" She asked curiously. "Just throw it away."

"I-I don't know." I said, annoyed.

"Okay then." Ella said, receiving my hint to stop asking questions. "Well, we can leave in about an hour or so. Make sure you don't forget anything." She said, as she walked out of my room.

"Kay mom." I said, as I closed the door behind her.

_Wow that was close. _


	7. Chapter 7

Aria's POV

"Are Spencers' parents home?" Ella asked as I got into the car.

"No, they're at some dinner thing. They'll be back later tonight." I said, buckling my seat belt. "Han and Em are coming too."

"You four are inseparable... That's good, that you're there for each other after everything that happened with Alison... I can't believe they still haven't found the killer yet. Just knowing that he, or she, wanders these streets every day, makes me want to pack all our things and move back to Iceland." She shuddered.

"No... I'm glad we came back when we did." _If not, I never would have met Ezra._ I thought.

"How have you been honey? Dealing with this?"

"It's been... hard, but we cope." I said with a sigh.

Looking around, I spotted Ezra's car, parked on the street in front of Spencers' house. I unbuckled my seatbelt as my mom pulled up into Spencer's driveway. "Kay, so I'll see you in a few days, love you mom." I said quickly, eager to see Ezra. "I want to come in and say hi to the girls." Ella said, getting out of the car.

"I-I don't think that's such a good idea..." I murmured.

"Don't be silly! I'm coming in!" Ella responded with much enthusiasm. I quickly sent Ezra a text, telling him that my mom was coming inside and that he needed to hide.

Ezra's POV

"I still can't believe that my english teacher is standing in my house. And he's dating my best friend. This is just crazy." Spencer said.

"Tell me about it." Hanna said. "You two are cute though. Aria's so in love that she acts like she's in another world when she's with you." She said to me.

My phone chimed with a text as I smiled. I checked it, finding Aria's text.

_My mom's coming inside. Hide. -Aria_

"Aria's mom's coming inside," I told the girls. "I'm gonna hide in the bathroom." I said, leaving the kitchen.

The front door opened and I saw Ella and Aria walked inside. However, the kitchen was big, the bathroom was far, and I just wasn't fast enough.

"Ezra?" I heard a confused Ella ask. "What are you doing here?"


	8. Chapter 8

Aria's POV

"Uh-Ella! Hi!" Ezra said, with a fake smile plastered on his face.

I looked at him with a look that clearly said, "crap."

"What are you doing here?" Ella asked, looking genuinely confused.

"I um, I just needed to talk to... Spencer's parents about an essay she wrote, but they aren't home..." He said, putting his hands in his pockets nervously.

"Well I was just dropping Aria off, so since you're leaving, want to go grab a cup of coffee or something?" She asked him, looking at him with a look that dared him to decline her offer.

"Um- I guess I cou-" Ezra managed to say, before I cut him off.

"Mom, are you seriously going to force Mr. Fitz to have coffee with you? Don't you need to pick up Mike from practice?" I said, saving Ezra from any more humiliation.

"Not for another hour. Come on, Ezra, I haven't heard from you in a while. I feel like you've been avoiding me." She said jokingly.

_He has_. I thought.

"Well thanks Mr. Fitz, I'll let my parents know you stopped by." Spencer said, trying to break the awkward tension.

"Okay, th-that works." Ezra said, after I give him a very confused look. He turned to me with a look that said, "I've got this under control. Let me handle it."

I watched as he walked out the door with my mother at his side.

Ezra's POV

"Oh you know what Ella," I said as I stopped suddenly, halfway down Spencer's driveway. "I think I left my phone inside. I'm just gonna go run in and grab it."

"Sorry Aria." I said as I quickly entered the kitchen to find Aria alone.

"What in the world just happened?" She asked as she walked over to me.

"I'm going to go have coffee with your mom real quick, then I'll come right back." I said, taking her into my arms.

"I have to do it." I said, making her sigh and look away from me. "Hey." I said softly, turning her face back to me. "I'll be back soon. We don't actually have to be at the airport for another two hours."

"I'll miss you." She said, smiling, before reaching up to give me a kiss.

Ella's POV

After five minutes, I started to wonder what was taking him so long. He said he just needed to grab his phone.

I got out of my car, and walked back up to Spencer's front door. I stopped in my tracks as I acknowledged the sight in front of me through the window.

Ezra had his arms around my daughter, and hers were on his face. I watched as Aria stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. My heart stopped for a moment.

_Aria just... she just kissed her English teacher. Am I seeing things?_ I asked myself.

Suddenly, I was angry.

_What the hell did Aria think she was doing? Why the hell did she just kiss her English teacher?_

All of a sudden, I felt weak from the sight my mind just had to comprehend. I ran to the front door, wanting- no, needing, to get an explanation for what I just saw.

"Did-Did you just kiss my daughter?" I asked, in a faint voice, as I watched Aria and Ezra jump apart and turn to the doorway. I just stood there, with a look of shock and disbelief on my face. _What the hell just happened?_ I thought.


	9. Chapter 9

"Did-Did you just kiss my daughter?" I asked, in a faint voice, as I watched Aria and Ezra jump apart and turn to the doorway. I just stood there, with a look of shock and disbelief on my face. _What the hell just happened? _I thought.

_Crap_, I thought.

"Y-you weren't s-supposed to see that." I stuttered. I snuck a glance at Ezra, who was completely silent in shock and trying to hide in a corner of the room.

"I know." Ella responded slyly.

First, she turned to me.

"What the hell were you thinking Aria?"

"Um..." I said, trying to quickly come up with an excuse.

"Are you that desperate?" She asked. "You're teacher, Aria? There's so many boys in your school, and you have to go after your teacher? Or is he forcing you?" She said, quickly making assumptions.

"And you!" Ella said, turning to Ezra, not waiting for my reply. "Why the hell did you just kiss your student? What is wrong with you? Forcing younger girls to be with you. Obviously, you aren't the adult here!" She exclaimed.

"Mom!" I said. She was starting to scare me because I had never seen her act so mean before.

"Stop. It's... It's not... like that." I said, trailing off.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Hanna, Emily, and Spencer, standing in the kitchen, watching the scene unfold before their eyes.

"Wh-what are you trying to say?" Ella said, folding her arms across her chest.

"He didn't kiss me. I... kissed him. Ezra and I..." I took in a deep breathe. "We're dating."

My mom didn't move. I heard Hanna gasp.

"She just told her mom!" Spencer whispered.

Ella, hearing Spencers' remark, turned to Emily, Hanna, and Spencer. "You all knew about this?" She asked.

"Well um, yeah. Aria told us, because Hanna kind of... caught her... Which... forced Aria to confess." Spencer said.

I made a mental note to myself to thank her later for being so vague.

"Okay. We're going to go home right now, and you're going to tell your father what you just told me. I'd rather... discuss this issue with him next to me." Ella said slowly.

"And Ezra, don't think you're getting away with this so easily. You're coming too."

Suddenly, I was scared for Ezra, whom I knew was more scared of my dad than anyone else.

**Once again, I know this is short, but it made more sense to end it here instead of going on to find out Byron's reaction. There is a very small chance that the next chapter will be uploaded tomorrow, since its Easter, but I'll definitely have it up by Monday, since I don't have school. Review please! They are what keep me wanting to write this story! **


	10. Chapter 10

"Come on. You both can ride with me." Ella said, as she walked out the door.

"Uh- mom? Ezra and I have our cars here... So we'll just meet you at home."

"Fine." Ella sighed. "Don't take forever though."

Once my mom was gone, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily ran up to Ezra and I.

"Ohmygod guys. I'm so sorry this happened." Emily said.

"I can't believe this." Hanna exclaimed. "After all the hiding you guys have to do, you finally were getting to go on a hot date with the teacher, and it got ruined! I was so excited for it!" Hanna said.

"Hanna!" Spencer exclaimed. "Can we focus on what just happened instead?"

"Sorry." Hanna said quickly.

"We have to go guys. If you hear from me by tomorrow, you'll know we made it out alive. If not... then, well, you know." I said glumly, as I followed Ezra out the door.

"I don't think we're gonna be able to go to Hawaii." I whispered to Ezra as we started walking to my car.

"Me either. Thankfully, the tickets are refundable." He said as we walked together to his car. "We'll go some other time. If we survive what tonight has in store for us."

"Yeah seriously. Also... Don't mention anything about it to or in front of my parents. They think I was going to New York to look at colleges with Spencer." I said, looking around and realizing my mom already left.

"Okay. I'll see you soon. Love you." He said, as he leaned in to give me a kiss. Our lips met, and the kiss was filled with worry and anxiety. A sense of urgency. I pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around his neck, as he clutched me to his chest. I was scared for what was to come, and I could tell that he was too.

"You too..." I said, against his lips, before I pulled away. I gave him a small smile, before turning away.

Walking to my car, I let out an exasperated sigh, and said a quick prayer that Ezra and I were still going to be alive after tonight.

"Byron!" Ella called, as soon as she set foot inside the house, causing Ezra and I to exchange a nervous glance at each other.

"We need to talk." She said, as Byron spotted Ella, Ezra, and I standing near the door.

"Ezra! Hi! What are you doing here?" He asked, confused, but still giving Ezra a pat on the back.

Ella glared at Byron for being so friendly towards Ezra.

"Ezra and Aria," she said, while turning her glare to me, "have something they would like to tell you."

"What is it?" Byron asked, confused.

"Um, dad, well, um, why don't we go sit down in the kitchen for this." I said hesitantly, lowering my gaze to the floor.

Silently, we all walked into the kitchen, with Ezra by my side, who hadn't said a word since we arrived at my house.

"What's going on, Aria?" Byron asked. "And, I'm still confused on why he's here." He said, motioning to Ezra, who sat down beside me.

Under the table, of course, I took Ezra's hand in mine and held it tightly.

"Um, well... EzraandIaredating." I said, much too quickly for him to be able to comprehend.

"What? I couldn't understand you." He replied.

"She said she's dating her teacher, Byron! She's dating Ezra!" Ella exploded.

"What?" Byron asked, shocked, looking from me to Ezra, and back again.

"Um, yeah, that's-that's what I said." I whispered.

"How did this happen?" Byron asked, as Ella at the same time said, "Why would you do something so stupid Aria?"

"Mom, dad, please. Just-just let me explain."

"I love him. And... he loves me." I said, glancing at Ezra, who nodded his head in confirmation.

"You don't love your teacher, Aria!" Ella exclaimed. "It's not... possible! And you can't love your student!" She said to Ezra.

"He wasn't my teacher when I met him!" I exclaimed. "When we met, we didn't know what we actually were to each other! He thought I was in college. And then the next day at school, we found out that he was my teacher."

"Yet, you still continued to see each other." Ella said, angrily.

"Ezra, I think it's time for you to leave." Ella said through clenched teeth. "We," she said, motioning to Byron and herself, "need to speak to Aria alone."

Ezra nodded without saying a word. I watched as he got up from his chair, gave me one last glance, and walked out the door.

**Thanks so much for the reviews! I'll try to get the next chapter up today, but if I can't, it'll definitely be up tomorrow! As always, read and review please! :) **


	11. Chapter 11

Byron, who had mostly been silent throughout the whole discussion, finally spoke up as he heard the front door close.

"Aria, do you realize how wrong this is?" He asked calmly.

"Like you're one to talk!" I yelled, jumping out of my chair. "You cheated on mom with Meredith!" I exclaimed, pointing to my mom. "In case you forgot dad, she was your student too! You can't try to condemn me for my "mistakes," I said using air quotations, "but not do anything about yours. You're married! I'm not. Being with Ezra is not cheating on my family."

"She was my student, yes, but she was not underage! It's a very different issue!" He said, trying to defend himself. "And Meredith, that-that was a mistake! One I very much regret and am paying for everyday!"

"Yeah, really?" Ella interjected. "So am I. You and your stupid mistakes! This family and their_stupid_mistakes!" Ella said, as she stood up from her chair.

"Ella! Aria! Sit down. Ca-can we just focus on the issue at hand? Please." Byron pleaded.

"Fine." Defeated, Ella sat back down. I, however, continued standing.

"Mom! This really isn't that bad!" I exclaimed. "I'm not pregnant! I'm not critically ill! I'm just... in love." I said quietly. "Is it really that bad?" I asked sadly.

"Yes, Aria! It is bad! He's your teacher! This is illegal!" She said, exasperatedly.

"You think I don't know that? That's why no one can ever know about us! You think I like this? All this sneaking around, having to hide my relationship? Let me tell you, it's not fun. Always having to hide, never being able to be in public with each other. We can never hold hands, or show our love to the world, because no one will see it. All they will see is that he is my teacher, that there's a stupid age gap and they'll come to the conclusion that everything about our relationship is wrong!" I said, as tears started forming in my eyes. "But... there's nothing in my life... that has ever felt more right..." I said, sinking back into my chair, crying silently.

"I'm sorry honey. Now I see how hard this is for you. I just... I just don't know what to do about all of this." Ella said.

"Yeah me neither." I said, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"I just need you to tell me one thing." Ella said calmly.

"What?" I asked as my voice filled with worry.

"How long?" She asked quietly.

"How long what?" I asked, confused.

"How long have you been seeing your teacher?"

"Oh. Um... Since... Since labor day." I said.

"So before school started." Ella stated.

I nodded my head in confirmation.

"Thank god." She said as she relaxed a bit.

**I'm not sure if I want Ezra to resign from Rosewood, so they can go public, or if he should stay there teaching English. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know :) **


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks to SolitudeMyLove for the idea of having Ezra just take a break from teaching, I think that's what I'll do eventually. Thank you everyone who has reviewed, it really means a lot to me! I can't believe how many times I've been able to update today! I love no school days! :) Enjoy! And don't forget to review! :) **

Ella's POV

"I figured out that you had a boyfriend, Aria, but out of all the people in the world, I never would have expected it to be Ezra. So all the times you went early or stayed after school, it was to be with him?" I asked, as Byron left the room muttering something about having to finish grading some papers.

"Yeah." Aria said quietly.

"I know... that this is wrong, in the eyes of the law. Ezra and I being together, I mean..." She said, as she brought her legs onto the chair and hugged them to her chest. "But... it's right in every other way. I don't know what I would do if he wasn't there."

"So this is why you were always so scared about us finding out about your boyfriend..." Ella said trailing off as she started putting the pieces together. _It all made perfect sense. Everything fit. Aria was always so protective of her cell phone, probably because it was filled with texts and calls from Ezra. My mind was racing as I remembered the night Aria and I saw Ezra at the movies, I invited Ezra to sit with us, and Ezra had sat next to Aria... and they both looked really uncomfortable. Aria's eyes always lit up whenever Ezra's name was mentioned. She freaked out when I told her I got that text from her about a boys' eyes, and she begged me not to try to find out who it was about. She told me that she wanted her relationship private, because it was- it is, illegal. The night of the storm, when Aria was supposed to take her SAT's, I talked to Ezra... and he seemed really nervous around me. Probably because he was scared I was going to find out that he's been making out with my daughter. And that's he's been... Wait... No. They better not be. I will kill them both. _

"You're not... sleeping together, are you?" Ella asked, cringing.

"NO!" Aria exclaimed.

Ella let out a small laugh.

"Good. So tell me about him." My mom said, as a small smile formed on her lips.

Aria's POV

"Mom, you already know Ezra." I whined.

"I know him as your English teacher. Not as your boyfriend."

I gave her a small smile. "He's... He's amazing. He's everything I could ever want in a guy and more. And it never _feels_ wrong when we're together... Age is never an issue when we're together. I don't see why everyone thinks it's so bad..."

"Honey, the age gap bothers me a little, but it's more just the fact that he's your teacher that disturbs me." Ella remarked.

"I know." I said, looking down. "But... we didn't know that at the time. Or else we probably never would have even talked to each other that first day..."

"How did you guys meet?" She asked, curiously.

I smiled at the memory. "It was the day we got back from Iceland... Remember, you told me to take Mike to practice? Well, after I dropped him off, I stopped at a pu-" I immediately stopped myself. There was absolutely no way I was going to tell my mom I was at a pub. "A restaurant, to get a bite to eat. And there was this poster there, of Ali, and I saw it... and it just brought back so many memories... and..." I smiled. "And Ezra was sitting two seats away, and he... he asked me if I was alright. After that we just started talking, and I told him I wanted to major in English, so I guess he assumed I went to Hollis. Anyways, we immediately connected, and there were just so many things we shared in common. And then... he kissed me before we left." I said, changing the story up a bit, to spare myself the embarrassment. "And then the next day at school, I found out that he was my new English teacher. And we tried to break it off, because we knew it was wrong... but we just couldn't... stay away from each other. It made him miserable, and it made me miserable. So for a while, we were just at this big dilemma... This is wrong, he's my teacher, no it's not, everything about it feels right, but he's older than me, but age has never been an issue for you Aria, but if you two get caught, he'll go to jail and lose his job and his teaching license, but he obviously loves you if he's risking all that just to be with you, yada yada yada.

And then... right before Homecoming, we... kind of broke up, over certain issues. And then right after Homecoming, he left. Without saying good-bye or anything."

"So those flowers you got in the mail that day, were those from him?" My mom said, remembering that day.

"I wish." I said, shifting in my chair. "They were from Sean. He had broken up with Hanna not long before, and we danced together at Homecoming. He really shouldn't have done that. It just caused more problems. Thankfully Hanna doesn't know he did that."

"So when did he come back? Oh. Nevermind, I remember. Wasn't it that day we had that awful storm?" Ella said, answering her own question.

"Yeah. H-how did you know that that's when he came back?" I asked, confused.

She smiled. "I talked to him. He told me he had just gotten back from New York. He was so nervous when we started talking about you. Now I know why."

"What did you guys say about me?" I asked, shocked.

"Nothing, honey. I just wanted to know how you were doing in your classes because your father and I had just split up... What happened after that?"

"Well... that day, he came back, and told me that we couldn't go back to the way it was, when we were together, and that things needed to change. And then..." I sighed, and closed my eyes. "I found this poem that he wrote, about me, and I cornered him about it, because obviously, he still cared about me, even though he broke up with me. I was just so sick of his lies. He couldn't make up his mind, of whether he wanted to be with me or not. I just didn't know what to do. He came back from New York, telling me that he was thinking about me every second he was gone, and then he told me we couldn't be together. Like, what the hell?" I said angrily. "So... after Ezra left, Noel and I got together. You know, Mike's friend. Noel had a crush on me, and I liked him when I was younger, but then Ezra and I got together, so I didn't care about Noel anymore. Anyways, I kind of... cheated on Noel, with Ezra, after Ezra came back and after I found out about his poem. So Ezra and I got back together, and Noel found out that Ezra and I were dating."

My mom gasped. "Aria! How? He could have gotten Ezra in so much trouble!"

"Um, well… he saw Ezra and I kissing," I said quickly, "and I made him promise not to tell anyone about Ezra and I, but of course being the jerk that he is, he found a way around that promise and he started blackmailing Ezra in English class to give him an A on this essay he wrote that Ezra had given him a C on. But Noel screwed his own plan up and it backfired on him. Noel told Mike a rumor that Ezra was dating one of his students. Mike told me the rumor, and he told me that Noel was going to tell the principal about it. But Mike didn't know that the student was me. That night, I talked to Ezra, and he told me that he decided he was going to resign from Rosewood. That way, Noel would have no reason to tell anyone about us. And then the next day, just as Ezra was walking to the principals' office to resign, the principal found the answers to three midterms in Noels' locker, which caused Noel to get suspended, and the principal losing all trust in Noel. So obviously, if Noel had told the principal about Ezra and I after that, he wouldn't have believed him. So that was a miracle for us. And then Simone came..."

"And she was spending lots of time with Ezra... Now I see why you were in such a bad mood at that dance. Because Simone was going after Ezra, when he was with you... and you couldn't do anything about it..." Ella finished for me.

"Yeah. That sucked. And then, remember when you told me that you went to the museum that Thursday, and I was surprised? That was because Ezra and I went on a date to that same museum that same day. So I didn't know whether you had seen Ezra and I there or not. But obviously, you didn't."

We were quiet for a minute, until my mom spoke up. "You really love him, don't you?"

I nodded my head in confirmation.

"Well thank you, Aria. For telling me all this... How many people know?" She asked, curiously.

"Um, well now you and dad, the girls, and Noel." I left out A. She, or he, was not someone I was ready to explain to my mom. A probably would kill me for telling about him or her. Literally.

My mom stood up.

"You should go start getting ready for bed, it's late."

I started walking out of the kitchen.

"Mom?" I asked hesitantly as I turned around. "You're not... you're not going to tell anyone right?"

"No honey. Before you told me all this, I was thinking about it, but now I can see you really love him. And I can tell by the way he looks at you and that he's risking everything in his life to be with you, he loves you too."

"Thanks mom." I smiled. "That really means a lot."


	13. Chapter 13

Aria's POV

"Uh, mom?" I asked sweetly.

"There's one more thing I should tell you... Earlier, Ezra and I were planning to go on a trip together. Somewhere where we wouldn't have to hide. And well... let's just say some things got in the way." I walked over to where she was sitting.

"Is there any way we could reschedule that trip?" I asked, putting on my best puppy dog face; hoping it would work. However, my mom was a tricky woman, you never knew whether she would fall into your trap or not.

"Hmm..." She said as my eyes lit up. She was actually considering it!

"You know what, why don't you give me and your father a little bit more time to process this and maybe later on, you and Ezra can go somewhere. His choice... Actually, come to think about it, we were planning a family trip to Italy next month... Ezra can come too, if he wants."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" I exclaimed.

"It was supposed to be a surprise. But I guess it's not anymore." Ella laughed.

My mouth hung open in shock. Did my mom seriously just say Ezra could come with my family to Italy?

"Ohmygod, thank you mom. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is so amazing!" I sighed in content.

"It'll give us a good opportunity to get to know him better. One day he might become my son-in-law." She smirked.

"Probably. But not for a while, don't worry." I reassured her.

She just smiled.

I sprinted up to my room and whipped out my phone to call Ezra.

"Hello?"

"Aria! What just happened? Tell me everything!" He said desperately.

I started laughing. "They're ok with it! I told her about the trip, and she said she wants to wait on it. She said that we're all going on a family trip somewhere soon."

"Where?"

"Italy! And my mom said you could come!" I exclaimed happily.

"Wow really?" He said surprised. "That's quick of them to accept all this."

"Yeah well Ella said it would give them an excuse to get to know you better."

"True. When is this?"

"Next month. I'm not sure the exact date, but I'll let you know as soon as Ella tells me." I replied.

We spent the next hour fantasizing about how it great it will be not having to hide while in Italy.

As I climbed into bed, I heard my phone buzz. I grabbed it, expecting a text from Ezra. However, my happy mood was gone as soon as I saw who it was from.

UNKNOWN:

Sweet dreams! I wouldn't be surprised if lover boy has even better dreams, from all the fun he's getting ready to have tonight... with some girl's who aren't you. -A

Anger seethed through me as I plugged my phone into the charger. I knew that Ezra would never cheat on me, but A knew all the right buttons to push to drive me crazy.

I closed my eyes and snuggled deeper into the covers, wishing Ezra's strong arms were around me.

Ezra's POV

My eyes fluttered open as I heard a soft noise. I couldn't decipher what exactly it was so I closed my eyes and tried to fall back asleep. I hated being such a light sleeper. Suddenly, I heard the noise again. My eyes shot open and I glanced at my clock. It's two in the morning. What the heck is that noise? I rolled out of bed, and glanced at my window, which was covered in streaks of water from the heavy rain. It's just the rain hitting the roof, Ezra. I told myself. I was about to get back into bed, before I heard it one more time. I quickly realized that it was coming from the door. I strolled over to the door, wondering who would want to see me at this time of night. I opened the door, and there stood Aria, soaking wet from the rain, with tears pouring down her face. Or maybe it was rain. I couldn't tell.

"A-Aria." I said surprised. "It's two in the morning. What are you doing here?" I asked groggily, as I let her in and closed the door.

"I-I needed to be sure..." Aria cried. She crushed herself against me, burying her face in my chest.

"Of what?" I asked, half laughing, half frightened.

"I- I had the most awful dream..." She said between sobs, looking up from my now tear-stained shirt.

"Shhh... It's okay, I'm here with you." I said in a soothing voice, as I crushed her small body closer to me. We stood like that for a few moments until I placed my fingers on her chin and tilted her face to look up at me.

"You can stay here for the rest of the night, okay?" I told her while softly brushing away the tears on her face.

She looked up at me and nodded silently.

"Come on, lets get you into some warm clothes." I said as I released her from my grip but took her hand in mine. I got out a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants for her, before making my way over to the closet to find a sweatshirt small enough to keep her warm. After she finished changing, she walked over to me.

"Thank you, Ezra. I don't know what I would do without you." She said, smiling.

I didn't reply, but instead gave her a soft kiss. She pulled me closer to her, crushing her mouth against mine. I felt her smiling through the kiss, before I pulled away.

I laughed as I watched her smile turn into a frown.

"What's wrong?"

Her fingers traced the dark circles under my eyes.

"You're exausted." She stated.

"I'm a light sleeper. The rain was keeping me up." I said simply. It finally struck me that she never told me what her nightmare was about.

"Aria?" I said.

"Yes?" She asked quietly, as walked over to the other side of the bed.

"You never told me what your dream was about."

"Oh. It wasn't that big of a deal. Just A." She sighed.

"I'm so sorry that all this is happening to you." I said, getting into bed and pulling the covers over us.

"It's okay." She smiled. "As long as you're here, it's all okay." She said, snuggling against me.


	14. Chapter 14

I woke up the next morning, with Ezra's strong arms holding me against his chest. As the previous nights' events flashed through my mind, I gasped loudly. I shoved Ezra's arms off of me to make sure I still had clothes on. It wasn't that I didn't want to do _that,_I just wanted to wait a little longer. Until I was 18. Or when he wasn't my teacher. Whichever one came first. I sighed in relief when I saw Ezra's sweatpants and t-shirt clinging to my small frame. I turned to Ezra as he stirred against me.

"Good morning sleepyhead." I smiled.

"How long have you been up?"

"About two minutes." I sat up and crossed my legs together to get a proper view of him. He had no shirt on, which exposed his perfectly toned abs to the world. (**I can't wait for a shirtless Ezra next season! Yummy!) **

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked.

"Of course." He furrowed his eyebrows at my silly question.

"How do you have time to work out? When you aren't with me, aren't you usually grading papers or something?" I asked, confused.

He laughed at my question.

"Usually I go in the morning, before school. I get up at around 4:45 or 5."

"That's a little hard to believe, sleepyhead." I teased him.

"Hey! I'm only lazy like this when I'm with you." He defended himself.

I smiled as I leaned in closer to kiss him. Our lips met softly, but the passion in the kiss quickly escalated. As our lips moved together in perfect synchronization, I straddled his lap, continuing to kiss him. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he placed his hands on my hips. As I grazed my tongue against his bottom lip, he opened his mouth slightly, giving my tongue permission to enter it. I felt his warm breath against my mouth, causing me to shiver slightly. I unhooked one of my arms from around his neck as I moved it to his face, cradling one of his cheek in my hands. I slid my hand down to his neck, and as soon as I reached his chest, I slowly ran my hand down his perfect abs.

I felt him shiver slightly, as he smiled against my lips. He slowly pulled away, before smiling again.

"Your fingers are freezing." He stated, taking my hands in his and kissing my fingertips.

"They're always cold. I can't help it." I smiled.

I looked down at our intertwined hands when he did not release mine. I realized how much l loved seeing his big, strong, hands around my petite ones.

"Oh shit!" I suddenly exclaimed. I jumped off the bed and ran out of the bedroom.

I frantically searched around the living room for my phone. My parents were probably freaking out right now. I finally found it, sitting under the coffee table, as I saw Ezra walk in through my peripheral vision. I opened it, to find fifteen new text messages, and twenty three missed calls.

"What's wrong?" He said worriedly.

"I forgot to tell my parents where I am! They've called me twenty three times and are probably flipping out as we speak." I said, dialing my home number.

Before I was able to press send, my phone started shivering again with an incoming call. _Home_. I quickly answered.

"Mom! I'm so sorry! I forgot to leave a note or something."

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Ella yelled.

"Sorry! I'm at Ezra's. I had to make sure he wasn't cheating on me." I said, winking at Ezra.

"Of course not mom, he wouldn't do that. It was just me overreacting." I said, smiling at Ezra.

"No mom, we just slept. Like closing our eyes and actually sleeping." I said, annunciating my words as if I were talking to a five year old.

"Okay. We'll be there soon." I said, hanging up.

"My mom wants you to come over for breakfast. You can officially and formally meet Mike." I said, smiling.

"Are you sure that's safe? I mean you are his sister. And his job, naturally, is to protect you. You sure he'll approve of me?"

"Mr. Fitz. If I approve, then he'll approve. He just wants me to be happy." I reassured him.

"Do you want to take a shower?" He asked me, as he got up off the bed.

"If you come." I smirked.

"Aria." He said sternly. "I'm 100% sure that if I come, then something we don't want to happen, will happen. I'm sorry, I would love it more than anything, but you're still underage, and I'm still your teacher."

"Fine." I pouted, as I got up from the bed and started walking towards the bathroom.

I wasn't even halfway there before Ezra's strong arms grabbed me, and twirled me around. I hadn't even comprehended what had happened, before his lips were against mine. He crushed me against him as I tangled my fingers in his hair. I loved the feeling that came with his mouth against mine. Moments later, we broke apart for air.

"Don't feel bad. When the time is right, we'll do it." He assured me.

"What do you want for breakfast? I'll make you something while you're taking a shower." He tried changing the subject.

"The five-star chef is going to cook for me?" I teased.

"Hey. Any moron can whip up a couple pancakes. They're from a box. It can't be that hard." (**Why does everyone envision Ezra as such a terrible cook? Didn't he make a decent meal for him and Aria in the fourth episode? Then again, he and Aria do get a lot of take-out... Back to the story... ) **

"We're going to my house for breakfast. Did you forget already?" I laughed.

"Oh wow. Yeah. I did." He said, shaking his head.

"Seems like you're getting pretty old." I smirked.

"And you're getting younger with all your nasty remarks."

"It's part of the package. If you want me, you get all of me. Nasty remarks included." I said, matter of factly.

"I think I can live with that." He said, before kissing me again.

I smiled, as I skipped off into the bathroom for my shower.

**Next chapter is breakfast with the Montgomery's! I wonder how that's going to go! Thanks for the reviews! And don't forget to review on this chapter too! I love knowing what you guys think, and I always appreciate constructive criticism **


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's Chapter 15! Enjoy! Don't forget to review :) **

Aria's POV

"Are you sure Mike will like me?" Ezra asked me, nervously.

I took his hand as we started walking towards my house.

"Don't worry, just act normal. My parents already approve of you, so there's really nothing to be afraid of." I reassured him.

"Ready?" I asked, before knocking on the door.

"No." He stated. "Just forgot one thing." He twirled me around so I faced him, and gave me a soft kiss.

"Now I'm ready." He smiled, as he pulled away.

I inhaled a deep breath before knocking on the door.

A few seconds later, the door swung open, and there stood Mike, with a big smile on his face.

"Aria!" He pulled me into the house, giving me a hug. I quickly grabbed Ezra's hand, pulling him inside with me.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Mike asked Ezra, as Mike let go of me.

Ezra shot me a confused look.

"Uh-mom didn't tell you?" I asked Mike.

"Tell me what?" He asked.

"Aria! Ezra! Just the two people I needed to talk to!" Byron exclaimed as he walked over to us.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I took off my jacket.

"No-Aria, I think you might want to keep that on." Byron said, grabbing my arm to stop me from taking off my jacket.

I gave him a confused look as I shrugged my jacket back on.

I watched as he took a deep breath, before opening his mouth to speak.

"Dad. What's wrong?" I asked, worriedly.

"I-I don't approve of this." He stated calmly, gesturing to Ezra and I.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked.

"This whole thing is wrong. It's illegal. It's actually kind of disgusting too, if you think about it." He said.

My heart stopped. Just yesterday, Byron and Ella were supportive of mine and Ezra's relationship. And today, everything had changed.

"Dad. Yesterday, you were completely fine with this." I said, nervously.

"I took some time and thought about it some more. And I don't like it. Either end it with him," He said, gesturing towards Ezra. "Or we're kicking you out. We don't need people talking about our family because of you two. I'm sorry."

"A-are you serious?" I exclaimed, looking over to Ezra, who had gone completely silent.

"Yep." Mike said. "I started to wonder who your boyfriend was. Who knew that I spent an hour with him every day in English class."

"Whatever." I said, trying not to cry. "Let's go, Ezra."

"Y-you're leaving with him?" My dad said, incredulously.

"Yeah. I am." I said, looking him in the eye.

"I can't do this anymore!" Mike exclaimed, as he burst out laughing.

I looked over to Ella, who had just entered the room with a smile on her face. She was watching my father, who had also doubled up in laughter.

"I'm so confused right now." Ezra whispered to me.

"That was so great! You should have seen your faces!" Mike said, trying to control his laughter.

"That was pretty good." Ella agreed, chuckling quietly.

"What is so funny?" I asked, annoyed. Their laughter was starting to get on my nerves.

"Oh, that was amazing." Byron exclaimed, as he gave Mike a high five.

"They wanted to pull a prank on you two." Ella explained, as she motioned for us to come into the kitchen. "I told them you would kill them, but they didn't listen." She smiled.

"No but seriously," Mike said, making a serious face. "If you ever hurt her, you will regret it." He told Ezra.

"You won't have to worry about that." Ezra assured him, as he smiled at me.

"Aria, Ezra, can you guys set the table for me?" Ella asked.

"Sure, mom." I said, as I grabbed some plates from the cabinet and handed them to Ezra.

Once the food was served, conversation flowed smoothly. I was amazed at how well Ezra got along with my family. They treated him as if he were already a part of it.

I heard my phone ring in the other room, and I excused myself from the table to go answer it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Aria!" I heard Hanna exclaim. "What are you doing today?" She asked.

"Not much, my parents invited Ezra here for breakfast this morning." I told her.

"Em, Spence, and I want to go shopping later in New York. Do you want to come?" She asked.

"Hmm... I don't know." I contemplated. I really wanted to spend the day with Ezra, but it wasn't fair to my friends to spend more time with him than them.

"Come on!" Hanna exclaimed. "You can bring Fitz. We're dragging Caleb and Toby along with us."

"Fine." I laughed. "Let me go tell him. What time?" I said.

"Two. The mall doesn't close until 11."

"Two's good. See you." I said, hanging up.

Walking back into the kitchen, I smiled at the sight in front of me. Ezra was engaged in a deep conversation with Byron, and Ella was doing the dishes. Ezra smiled at me as I walked back into the room.

"The girls want to go shopping today." I stated, as I sat down next to Ezra.

"When?" Ezra asked.

"In two hours." I replied, lightly tapping my fingers on the table. "And guess what?" I said smiling.

"What?" Ezra asked, suspiciously, as Byron got up and walked out of the kitchen.

"You're coming. So are Toby and Caleb." I laughed.

"Aria, is that really such a good idea? Rosewood's a small town, you don't want someone you know seeing you with Ezra, do you?" Ella intervened.

"We're going to New York, mom. We'll be fine." I told her.

"Just be careful." She sighed, leaving the kitchen.

I turned to Ezra. "Want to see my room?" I asked devilishly.

"I would love to." He laughed.

I took his hand and led him upstairs. We got to my room and I closed the door behind me. I watched Ezra as he looked around, studying all the pictures on the walls.

"You had pink hair?" He laughed.

"Just for a little while." I smiled. "I went through this phase..." I said, walking up to him and wrapping my arms around his waist.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"It's so you. The style, the decorations, everything. I love it." He turned his body so he was facing me.

"Thank you." I smiled.

"Come on we'd better go. We don't want to get stuck in traffic."

We walked hand in hand back down the stairs.

"Mom, we're leaving. We'll be back later tonight." I called from the hallway.

"Okay, have fun honey!" She called back.

We headed out to my car and got inside silently.

"This... is going to be interesting." Ezra laughed.

"_That_ it will be." I laughed alongside him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 - Enjoy! :) **

"Can I drive?" Ezra asked me.

"Um, sure. Why?" I asked, confused, as I walked around the car to get into the passenger seat.

"I want to talk to you, and since I'm pretty sure I know what your response is going to be, I'd rather be the one driving." He smiled.

"Uh, okay? Is-is everything alright?" I asked, worriedly, as I took his free hand in mine.

"It's good news! For us anyway." Ezra stated, as he started driving away.

"What is it?"

"I'm in the process of writing a book right now-"

"Really? And you didn't tell me? That's so cool! " I exclaimed, cutting him off.

"Let me finish. That wasn't what I wanted to tell you... I've decided to take a break from teaching." He paused and looked over at me. "Do you realize what that means? It would give me more time to do my own writing... and..." He grins, waiting for me to finish his sentence for him.

"And what?" I narrowed my eyes, confused.

"Aria, we can go public!" Ezra exclaimed, with a big smile.

A smile starting spreading on my face as the words he said sunk in.

"That's amazing! Oh my god, this is going to be so great!" I said, sinking back into the soft cushion of the seat.

He gave my hand a small squeeze in response.

"You know, if we weren't driving, I'd be kissing you right now, but I think that I want to make it to the mall alive." I laughed.

An hour later, as Ezra and I walked into the spacious mall, I looked around to find Hanna waving at us with a big smile on her face. She ran up to us, dragging Caleb by the hand behind her. Emily, Spencer and Toby quickly followed.

"Hey guys!" Hanna exclaimed.

"Why is Mr. Fitz here?" I overheard Toby whisper to Caleb, who shrugged in response.

Ezra, who had also overheard, whispered in my ear. "I guess they don't know?"

I shook my head in response. "Toby, Caleb, can I talk to you guys for a second." I said, leading them a little ways away from everyone else.

"Uh-yeah sure. But why is Mr. Fitz here?" Toby asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. We thought we would be safe here, since it's so far from Rosewood..." I looked over at Ezra, who was talking to Hanna, Spencer, and Emily, and was blushing a deep scarlet red. Hanna was probably saying some ridiculous innuendo about the two of us.

"What are you talking about?" Caleb said.

"Ezra and I are dating." I stated calmly.

"What?" Toby exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

I was about to respond, when I was cut off.

"Wait, who's Ezra? I thought we were talking about Mr. Fitz. " Caleb asked, confused.

"His name is Ezra Fitz, idiot!" Toby exclaimed, punching him in the shoulder. "You're dating our english teacher?" He turned back to me.

"Ow! Sorry dude! Didn't know that bit of information!" Caleb responded, rubbing his shoulder.

"Yes Toby, I am dating our English teacher." I said happily.

Toby and Caleb both looked at me with emotionless eyes.

I sighed. "We met before I knew that he was going to be our teacher. And we tried breaking our relationship off after we both found out, but it just made us both miserable. So, long story short, we got back together, and pursued a secret relationship. Just don't tell anyone. Please." I explained.

"So isn't your relationship illegal? Why are you guys together in public now?" Toby asked, intrigued.

"That's a question that Ezra's going to have to answer. Not me." I smiled and walked back to Ezra and the girls.

"Thank God you're back... That girl Hanna has a dirty mind." Ezra said, taking my hand in his.

I rolled my eyes in response. "I don't even want to know what she said to you."

"First, I want to go to this really cute boutique Mona told me about!" Hanna exclaimed, as she took Caleb's hand and pulled him along with her. Spencer and Toby, Emily, Ezra and I all followed. Ezra and I walked a bit slower than the rest of the group, hand in hand, enjoying the feeling that came with being out in the open.

"Why didn't Emily bring her boyfriend?" Ezra whispered into my ear, gesturing to Emily, who was walking a few feet ahead of us.

"Oh. Well... first off, She doesn't have a boyfriend..." I said trailing off.

Ezra nodded in understanding. "Oh, that makes sense."

I shook my head. "No. I mean she doesn't have a boyfriend... She has a girlfriend." I watched his face as his eyes widened in shock. "You mean she's... _gay_?" He asked, whispering the last word.

"Yes, she's gay. You can say it Ezra, it's not a dirty word. She doesn't mind." I said. "And second, her girlfriend's in juvie. Maya St. Germain, do you remember her?"

"Oh. Yeah, she was a good student. I wondered why she suddenly left. Why'd she get sent to juvie?" He asked.

"You guys talking about Maya?" Emily asked, overhearing our conversation.

I nodded my head in response. Emily slowed down, so she could walk alongside us.

"She got sent to juvie, because of my mother." Emily answered, in an irritated tone.

Ezra was about to speak, but Emily cut him off before he could say anything.

"You don't want to know the details." She sighed. "It's not a pretty story."

"How long is she there for?" Ezra asked.

Emily's face noticeably lit up. "Just a few more weeks." She smiled, and walked back up to where Hanna was.

"Aria!" Hanna called, from ahead of us. "Leave lover boy, and come walk with Spence, Em, and I."

I groaned in frustration as I reluctantly let Ezra's hand fall from mine, leaving him alone with Toby and Caleb.

"So Aria, you're coming to prom, right?" Hanna asked, expectantly.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for anything!" I exclaimed. Prom was like, the one thing that every student looked forward to during high school. There was no way I was going to miss it.

"She'd probably miss it if it meant seeing Mr. Fitz instead." Spencer smiled devilishly.

"Ezra. His name is Ezra. It's really not that hard to say." I exclaimed, annunciating all my words as if I were speaking to a four year old.

"Well you can't take Mr.F-" Emily started.

I gave her a look.

"EZRA! So... what are you guys gonna do?" She finished.

"Yes?" Ezra came up to us. "I heard my name?"

"Oh we were just talking about you, go back with the guys." Hanna said, shooing him away with her hand.

I shook my head apologetically at him, before he walked back to Toby and Caleb.

"Actually, Mr. Fitz, we're gonna look around in this store," Hanna said, pointing to a store filled with prom dresses. "You, Caleb, and Toby can just go look around some place. We'll call you guys when we're done." She said, before leading us all into the little store.

I sighed. "Honestly, I haven't really thought about that. On second thought, maybe I'll just skip. There's really no point in going. I wouldn't want to go with anyone other than Ezra... And we can't exactly do that." I said, running my fingers along the smooth fabric of the dress hanging next to me.

"True..." Emily agreed.

Suddenly, Hanna's entire face lit up.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"I just got a brilliant idea. And it involves you," She pointed to me, "and him." She said, pointing back to Ezra. "Come on, we're going to find us four the most perfect prom dresses!" She squealed.

"I'm officially scared." I stated, before following Hanna's lead to the back of the store.

"Can we stop at Starbucks? I'd kill for a latte." Spencer asked, as she stopped for a moment, resting the six shopping bags in her hands on the floor.

"Definitely." I agreed. "I'll call Ezra and we can meet the guys there."

"Who knew prom dresses could weigh so much!" Emily exclaimed.

"Well Em, when the dress you buy has beads all over it..." I laughed, as I pulled my phone out and speed dialed Ezra.

"Hey!" He exclaimed.

"Hi, how was your bonding with the boys?" I laughed.

"Not bad, not bad at all." He said.

"That's good... So listen, we're gonna stop at Starbucks right now, so do you guys want to meet us there?" I asked.

"Sure. I'll see you in a few. Love you." He said, before hanging up.

"I love you too..." If only he could see the radiance coming from my smile...

"Oh my god!" Spencer screamed. "He said I love you?" She exclaimed, running up to me.

"Wow, what's the big deal?" I blushed, as I started walking towards Starbucks. "We've said it many times before!"

"It's just cute." Emily laughed, pulling open the door.

The boys arrived five minutes later, just as we finished placing our orders.

"Did you girls buy the whole mall?" Toby chuckled, walking up to Spencer and taking her hand.

"Almost." Hanna said, in a sing-song voice.

"I've got latte and a- uhh- what is this?" I heard the cashier mutter. "All I see is whip cream."

"That's mine!" I rushed over to the cashier, grabbing my latte and cup of whip cream from his hands. I smiled sweetly at him. "Thanks."

I grabbed a spoon and walked up to Ezra, Spencer, and Toby.

"What in the world is that?" Ezra asked, as he started walking towards Emily, Hanna, and Caleb, who were seated by the window.

"Whip cream." I smiled brightly, and stuffed a spoonfull into my mouth.

"Mhmm..." I closed my eyes and sighed in content.

"You are so weird." Ezra laughed. Spencer and Toby nodded their heads in agreement.

**So what's Hanna/s brilliant idea? You won't find out in the next chapter, but possibly in the chapter after that. Hope you liked it! Review please! It makes me so happy knowing that people like my story :) **


	17. Chapter 17

**So I've been thinking over my plan on having Ezra leave and Aria and Ezra go public, but now I'm not sure if it will work! If Ezra resigns for a little while, writes a book, then when he finishes the book goes back to Rosewood, then how will he and Aria go public during that time? Because she'll still be his student, and his resignation would just be temporary. And I don't want to have him completely leave the school. Any suggestions? Ideas? Please let me know... I'm stuck! :( **

**Thanks for your reviews! It means so much to me! :)**

After eight hours of rigorous shopping, Hanna finally gave in to the guys' pleas of going home.

"Why don't we all just go hang at my place? My mom's on a business trip and she won't be back until next week." Hanna said.

"That would be fun." Emily said.

An hour later, we all found ourselves sitting in Hanna's living room getting ready to watch a movie together.

"Who wants sundaes?" Hanna sang.

"Me!" A chorus of voices replied.

"Well then get your butts up and make them yourself, I'm not your waitress!" Hanna smiled, as she stuck a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

"Ugh." I giggled as I tried getting up. My body was so sore from walking around the mall eight times, that I ended up falling back down in the process.

"Ezra." I said, holding my arms out for him to grab.

"Help me up please." I giggled, as he took hold of my arms and lightly lifted me off the ground.

"Anytime." He smiled, giving me a quick peck on the lips.

I spotted Spencer from the corner of my eye, who had a smug smile on her face.

I followed Emily into the kitchen, and grabbed two bowls, handing one to Ezra. I scooped out my portion of ice cream, before drizzling some caramel on top of it.

"Yum." I laughed.

Ezra started laughing at me as he put some for himself. I patiently waited for Ezra to finish putting his ice cream, before we walked back into the living room together. I took Ezra's hand and made him follow me to the couch, while Hanna put a movie on.

"Seriously Han? It's almost midnight, and you're gonna make us watch a movie?" Spencer asked.

"Do you have a better idea?" She snapped.

"Actually, I do. Let's play truth or dare." She said with a smug smile on her face.

"Yes!" Caleb exclaimed.

"I'll apologize in advance for everything I'm going to make you guys do... I'm sorry." Hanna smirked, looking directly at Ezra and I.

"Me first!" Hanna said. She looked directly at Ezra, who looked scared out of his mind.

"Truth or dare?" She asked him.

"I'm going to play it safe, and go with truth." He replied.

"Good choice." I whispered in his ear.

"Have you and Aria done it yet?" She said, with a huge grin on her face.

"SERIOUSLY HANNA?" I yelled.

"First off... _that_is none of your business. Second off..." He glanced at me.

I rolled my eyes and nodded, giving him permission to speak the truth.

"No." He said.

The game continued for the next two hours, full of ridiculous dares, and scary truths.

I learned that Caleb's mother left him when he was younger; after claiming she was going shopping, and never coming back home. Spencer, Emily, Hanna, and I already knew each others' secrets, so I didn't learn anything new from them. Ezra, I learned, had proposed to a previous girlfriend, which made me a little uneasy. However, she broke up with him before the wedding. I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I put it in the back of my mind, to ask him about later.

After that intense game, we were all exhausted. I looked up at Ezra, and smiled at him. Moments like these were ones I always cherished. Ezra and I were sitting together on the couch, with my head resting on his shoulder. Toby and Spencer were sitting together on the floor, hand in hand, with their backs against the couch. Caleb and Hanna were laying on their stomaches side by side, propping their heads up with their hands, and Emily was sitting in the armchair across from us, with her legs curled up to her chest.

"I'm exhausted..." Hanna said, in the middle of a huge yawn.

"Come on, I'm going to bed." She stated.

"Hanna... where will we all sleep?" Spencer stood up.

"Um... Caleb could sleep in my room with me," She said, giving Caleb a soft smile. "You and Toby could sleep on the floor, I guess... Em, are you okay with having the couch?" She said, looking around the room. "Aria, you and Ezra could have the guest bedroom." She smirked.

"How come they get the bedroom?" Toby asked.

"Because Ezra's the teacher." She said simply.

Ezra and I followed Hanna to our bedroom. Hanna opened the door and walked in. She turned back to us and spoke.

"Okay you two, no funny business. If you end up taking your clothes off, make sure that they're back on in the morning!" She winked.

I felt the heat from my body quickly rising to my cheeks as they turned beet red.

"Hanna! Get out!" I grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at her head. She started laughing hysterically at me, before catching her breathe and saying in a straight face, "No I'm serious." Her straight face didn't last for long, as she started laughing again before walking out and closing the door behind her.

Ezra and I sat on the bed in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"One day I'm going to kill Hanna." I stated.

"That girl... She's definitely something." Ezra laughed, as we both got under the covers.

I snuggled against him and he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close.

I sighed in content, as I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.

**Sorry guys, not the best chapter ever, I know. But I promise next chapter will be so much better, because... it's prom! And you'll find out what Hanna's genius idea was! Thank you everyone who has taken the time to review! And for everyone who's reading but not reviewing, don't be shy, I'd love to know what you think! **


	18. Chapter 18

I awoke the next day to Hanna's voice.

"Wake up sleepyheads! Time for breakfast!" She sang as she entered the room. She marched over to the window and whipped open the curtains, letting the strong glow of sunlight enter the room.

I groaned in frustration as I pulled the covers over my head, trying to shield the light from my eyes.

Ezra, who was already awake, chuckled slightly, before watching Hanna leave the room.

"I thought she would have been the last one awake." I heard Ezra say, as I sat up and shook the warm covers off of me.

"Nah, Hanna's always the first one up, eager to start the day. It bugs the crap out of the rest of us." I smiled.

He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss, before pulling away and saying, "Come on, let's get up before Hanna comes back in here."

I brushed my teeth and pulled a t-shirt over my tank top. I gathered my hair up into a messy bun, before walking back into the bedroom. Ezra and I walked hand in hand to the kitchen, to find Emily sitting on one of the barstools slipping through a fashion magazine, Caleb sitting next to her doing something on his phone, and Hanna raiding the fridge looking for food. I got myself a glass of water, before taking a seat next to Emily.

"So... we've got bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast. Is that okay with everybody?" Hanna took all the food out of the refrigerator and placed it all on the counter.

Emily nodded, while I looked around the room for Spencer.

"Where's Spence?" I asked Hanna.

"Sleeping. Go wake her up. Jump on her or pour some water on her head or something." She laughed.

"I don't think that would go down well." I giggled.

I walked into the living room to find Spencer peacefully asleep on the floor, her eyes covered with a sleeping mask. Toby was sitting next to her trying to find a way to wake her up.

"I can't get her to wake up. Hanna wants me to pour water on top of her." He said, as his voice filled with sympathy.

"That might not be a bad idea..." I muttered.

"SPENCER!" I yelled.

She didn't even budge.

"Spencer, I'm going to go to prom with Jenna if you don't get up." Toby stated.

Suddenly, Spencer shot up into a sitting position and whimpered.

"Wh-why is it so dark... and w-why won't you g-go to Prom with m-meee?" She wailed.

Toby and I burst into laughter. I was laughing so hard that tears started rolling down my cheeks. I struggled to catch my breath again.

"Spence, honey, take off that sleeping mask, and calm down. I was just kidding." Toby laughed, as he knelt back down beside her.

She pulled the mask off over her head and wiped the sleep from her eyes.

I walked back into the kitchen to find Ezra, who was seated next to Emily, watching Hanna cook.

"Aria? Ezra? Could one of you help me?" She asked while putting some bread into the toaster.

"How about I do that?" I smiled at Ezra. "Ezra here, can't cook to save his life."

"I'm gonna have to agree with that one." He chuckled.

After we all ate breakfast, Hanna declared that all the boys leave her house, so the girls could start getting ready for prom tonight.

I followed Spencer, Emily, and Hanna, to Hanna's room, and I sat down on the bed. Hanna went into the bathroom to figure out which make-up she was going to wear. We decided that Spencer would pick out the jewelry for each of us, Hanna would do make-up, I would do hair, and Emily would do shoes.

I went into the guest room to get my dress that I had bought yesterday.

I hung it up in the closet next to Spencers' dress, and walked back into the bathroom to check on Hanna.

"Are you excited?" She squealed to me.

"Kinda." I shrugged.

"Whyy?" She wined. "It's prom! You need to get excited!"

"There's really not much to be excited about." I sighed.

"I know why she's not excited." Spencer said, walking into the room with Emily behind her. "She can't go with Ezra. And she doesn't want to go with anyone else but him." She stated.

"Do you have like, some power, where you can read minds, that you failed to tell us about?" I asked her.

"Nah, I just know you too well." She smiled.

"Well on the bright side, Ezra will be chaperoning, right? So at least you'll get to see him there!" Emily said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Yeah, I guess... It's just not the same as _actually_ going with him." I said.

"Hey, cheer up!" Spencer said. "You're gonna have an amazing time tonight, with Ezra or without Ezra. I promise."

"Thanks guys." I smiled. "Come on, we need to make you look breathtaking for Fitz" Hanna said, patting the chair in front of the mirror.

"He's just chaperoning. He'll barely be seeing me. There's really no need to get so excited about it." I said.

"That's what you think." She said quietly.

"What?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly.

"Oh, nothing." She said mysteriously.

**Four Hours Later... **

Four hours later, we all found ourselves standing in front of the long mirror in Hanna's hallway, making last minute evaluations on our outfits.

I had to admit, I looked really pretty in my long gold ball gown-style dress. I'd paired it with gold bangles and tall gold heels, and my hair was curled to perfection. Hanna had done an amazing job on my make-up, which was not too edgy, but it enhanced all my facial features.

"I still don't understand why you guys made me look so pretty, when I don't even have a date to be pretty for." I said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hanna said. "Ezra's still gonna be there, you just won't be able to... dance with him." She trailed off slowly, looking at Spencer and Emily, who were trying to hide the big smiles on their faces.

"I'm... confused. What are we talking about?" I asked.

"You'll see." Spencer smirked.

"Aria, could you go run up to my room and grab my purse? It's sitting on my bed." Hanna asked.

"Um, sure." I said.

I went upstairs to fetch Hanna's purse, however, when I came back downstairs, I heard Hanna, Spencer, and Emily, talking in hushed voices.

"Oh my god, she's going to love this!" Spencer exclaimed quietly.

"Shh! We're going to make this the best night of her life." Hanna whispered.

"What are we talking about?" I said, upon entering the room. The girls immediately stopped talking as soon as they heard my voice.

"Uh-nothing." Emily said. "Come on, let's go."

As I walked into the school gym and started descending down the steps, my eyes automatically looked around for Ezra. I found him standing in the corner of the gym, talking to another teacher. He looked up causing our eyes to meet, and I felt myself break out into a huge smile.

"I think someone found Mr. Fitz." Hanna stated.

Caleb, Toby, and Paige (**At this point in the story, Maya's in juvie, causing Emily to have to go to Prom with Paige. However, I like Emily with Maya much more than I like Emily with Paige!)**came up to us and took each of their dates' hands.

"Do you want to dance?" Caleb asked Hanna. She whispered something in his ear, before saying, "Definitely." She smiled. I watched, as Caleb led Hanna away. "Hey Aria, you look really good." I heard a voice say. I turned around to find Sean, Hanna's ex, standing next to me.

"Oh hey Sean. Thanks." I faked a genuine smile.

"So um, are you here with anyone?" He asked.

_What a nice guy... Too bad he's not Ezra..._ I thought.

"No, I'm not actually. Are you?" I had to ask back; I didn't want to be rude.

"Uh, my date got sick and couldn't come. So... I was wondering... do you want to dance with me?" He finally asked.

"Um, sure, I guess." _Why not?_ I thought. I took his hand as he led me to the dance floor. I felt a pang in my chest as I realized that Ezra and I would never be able to do this.

While we were dancing, I kept looking around for Ezra. Sean seemed to have noticed because he asked me, "Are you okay? If this is too awkward since I'm Hanna's ex, then we don't have to dance together... It's just... You were standing there all alone... and I felt bad..." He rambled.

"Sean." I giggled. "It's fine, it's not awkward. It's just... there was a certain person I wanted to be with tonight too, but he couldn't exactly come either." I said with a sigh, as my eyes once again, wandered towards the spot where Ezra was standing. Hanna was standing next to him, and it seemed that she was whispering something into his ear. His eyes wandered away to me, and as soon as we locked eyes, he said something to Hanna while pointing to me. I turned back to Sean for a moment, then looked back at Ezra, but he was gone. So was Hanna. I could have sworn I had just seen them standing there three seconds ago. I started looking all around the gym for Hanna, Spencer, Emily, Caleb, Paige, Toby, or Ezra, but none of them were to be found. I finally found Emily, standing near the entrance way to the gym. She saw me and motioned for me to come over. Without a word to Sean, I started walking back towards Emily.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

She didn't answer, but instead started walking out of the gym and into the hallway. I followed her and struggled to keep up because she was walking so fast.

"Slow down!" I exclaimed. "We're not even allowed to be out here!" However, my voice was drowned out by the loud music from the gym and the clattering of her heels against the cold floor.

She suddenly stopped in front of a classroom. I immediately recognized it as Ezra's.

"Why are we by Ezra's classroom?" I asked dully.

She turned to me, and fluffed out my hair. She took my purse from my hand and fished around for something inside of it. She pulled out my lip gloss, and handed it to me.

"Stop asking questions and put this on." She said. I took the lip gloss from her and quickly applied some across my lips.

"There. Happy?" I huffed.

"You look perfect." She smiled.

Her phone chimed, indicating a new text. I looked at it, and saw a new text from Spencer.

**Spencer: We're ready. Bring her in. :D****  
**"What is she talking about? What in the world are you guys doing?" I was starting to get really annoyed from all their secrecy.  
Emily had a big smile on her face as she started to dramatically open the door to the classroom. Suddenly, she stopped opening the door.  
"Close your eyes." She commanded.  
I sighed and closed my eyes. I hated surprises and the girls all knew it. I felt myself being led inside the classroom by Emily's hands. I gasped as I felt something brush against my leg.  
"It's okay! That was just Hanna." she reassured me, as I heard many people shuffle out of the room. Emily dropped my hands from hers before speaking.  
"Aria, I'm going to leave the room now, and as soon as you hear the door close, you can open your eyes. And absolutely NO PEEKING!" She said.  
A moment later, I heard the soft click of the door being closed. That was my sign. A loud gasp escaped my lips as I slowly opened my eyes and acknowledged the sight in front of me. 

**I'm sorry for leaving it right there, but it was a great cliffhanger:) Review pretty please! It just takes a few seconds! :) I'll try to get the next chapter up by Monday night! Also, how do you make that line between paragraphs that skip time? Whenever I try to use something as a placeholder to indicate skipped time, fanfiction automatically takes it out of my story :( **


	19. Chapter 19

**Enjoy! **

Ezra's classroom had been completely transformed. The room was glowing with a soft light coming from the dozens of candles scattered throughout the room. Rose petals were sprinkled across the floor. The desks had all been pushed to against the walls of the classroom, leaving a large space in the middle for dancing. The room was far enough away from the gym that no one (I hoped) would come across us accidentally, but it was also close enough that we could still hear the music perfectly. My eyes wandered to the window, which enhanced the full moon and sky full of stars. And standing in the middle of the room, was Ezra, my Ezra, wearing a black tuxedo and a gold tie the same color as my dress watching my every move, with a big smile on his face.

"Y-you did all this... for me?" I managed to say, as I started walking up to him.

"With the help of your friends, of course." He smiled his beautiful smile.

"We get an hour and a half in here. Hanna, Spencer, and Emily, are taking watching shifts outside the door to make sure no one sees us." He informed me.

"Now... would you like to dance?" He asked, holding his hand out for me.

"I would love to." I took his hand and he led me to the center of the room.

The first dance was a slow dance, and I was surprised to learn that Ezra was a good dancer. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close, and I rested my head on his chest. I had to admit, he smelled _really_ good.

"Mr. Fitz, you're quite the dancer." I teased, looking up at him. "When did you learn?"

"You want the truth?" He asked, turning slightly red.

"Why? Is it that bad?" I giggled.

"Kind of... When I was younger, my mom would spend two hours a week teaching my brother and I how to dance. We hated it, but she said that we would thank her in the future. I guess she was right." He laughed.

After the song was over, I walked up to the desk that Hanna had put my camera on.

"I want to take some pictures." I declared.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ezra asked.

"My parents know about you, besides them, I'm the only one who has access to my computer." I shrugged.

I set the timer on the camera and placed it on a desk. Walking back over to Ezra, I asked, "How do I look?"

"You're so beautiful." He gushed.

I blushed and took his hand. We spent the next fifteen minutes pretending we were at a photo shoot. By the time we were done, we had taken over a hundred pictures.

"Send me those." He said, as I shut off the camera.

The door started to open slightly, and Spencers' head popped in.

"Hey, you guys have about half an hour left." She informed us.

"Thanks, Spence." I smiled.

Ezra took my hand again and we started dancing. The room was peacefully quiet, and the shadows the candles created on the walls made the atmosphere even more romantic.

"How ironic." Ezra laughed. "I'm your teacher. You're my student. And we're at Prom. Dancing together in a classroom."

I laughed. "I wouldn't have it any other way." I said, smiling radiantly.

He looked at me for a moment, as if debating something, but before I could think twice about it, he captured my lips in a passionate kiss. I pulled him closer to me, and twisted my fingers in his hair. He placed one hand on my cheek and the other on my hip. All I could think of were how soft his lips were and how this felt so right.

Suddenly, we heard a loud clatter and some yelling coming from outside. The door burst open, and Ezra and I jumped about a mile apart.

"Relax guys! It's just me!" I heard Hanna say.

I let out a huge sign of relief.

"You nearly gave us both heart attacks." Ezra said.

"Well I have a good reason. Caleb and I were dancing and there was a group of teachers next to us. They were looking for you," She said, looking at Ezra. "And obviously can't find you. If I were you, I would get back out there so you don't look suspicious."

"Hanna?" I asked, noticing the large crown on her head.

"Are you Prom queen?" I smiled.

"Maybe." She blushed, trying to hide a huge smile, before leaving the room.

"I've got to go, but I'll see you later. Do you want to come over? You could spend the night." He asked, trying to sound innocent, but failing.

"Sure." I smiled. "I just have to let my mom know where I am." I said, before reaching up to give him a kiss. As always, he pulled away too soon, before saying, "I love you."

"I love you too." I whispered, before he released his soft grip on me and started to leave the room.

"Ezra?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He paused, stopping in front of the door and turning back to me.

"Thank you... For all of this." I gestured around the classroom.

"Anything for you." He winked, causing me to blush a deep scarlet red.

Ezra left the room and I was alone. I started blowing out all the candles causing the room to get darker and darker. The door suddenly burst open and I turned around, expecting to find Ezra or one of the girls. However, the room was so dark, that I couldn't see who had entered. I jumped as I heard the door slam closed.

"Ezra?" I asked. No answer. I heard a ragged breathing and felt as if hours went by before I spoke again.

"W-who's here?" I asked nervously. I clutched my phone tightly in my hand, ready to dial 911 if anything happened. However, I hadn't even taken four steps, before I stumbled onto something and fell to the floor.

Before I was able to stand up again, I felt someone grab both my arms and hold them together behind my back. I let out a strangled cry as I tried to free myself, but my attacker was too strong. I kept struggling, trying to get myself out of my attackers' grip, but I just wasn't strong enough. I felt so weak as I realized that tears were quickly falling down my cheeks.

"Don't say a word, or else I'll kill you." I heard a raspy voice whisper in my ear.

I heard the door burst open again and all I could think of was Ezra.

"Ari-" I turned my head to see Ezra standing in the doorway, with a look of despair on his face as he registered the scene in front of him.

"ARIA!" I heard Ezra scream, as he ran up to me. Before I had time to react, I felt something hard hit my head. I heard a loud yell come from the voice of my attacker, before I was plummeted down into the darkness.

**Well I got that up a lot faster than I thought Hope you liked it, review please! **


	20. Chapter 20

**O. M. G. Shirtless Ezra is so freaking hot. That's all I have to say. Read and review please! :) **

**.com/pages/Aria-and-EzraSoul-Mates/137493709646695 - There are the pictures :D (put facebook right before the .com) for some reason it won't let me put the whole link. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything... (I said I didn't have anything else to say, but I kind of have to say this. Even though I haven't on most chapters.. oops! haha) **

Ezra's POV:

I rushed over to where Aria had fallen. I was so caught up in Aria that I didn't even notice the man who attacked her rush out of the room.

"Aria." My voice cracked as I bent down beside her small body.

At that moment, she looked so fragile. As if any slight movement would break her. I placed one hand under her head and the other under her legs so I could properly lay her on her back on the floor. As I removed my hand from under her head, I gasped at what I saw. My hand was shimmering in the moonlight with Aria's blood. I pulled off my jacket and carefully wrapped part of it around Aria's head to help stop the bleeding.

I frantically whipped out my phone and dialed 911.

"C'mon, c'mom, pick up!" I muttered.

Finally a voice came out of the other end.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I'm at the Rosewood High School prom and one of the students got hurt, she hit her head hard on the corner of a desk. She's bleeding, extremely pale, and she just went unconscious." I said really quickly.

"Sir, we need you to calm down. Are you her date? Could you let me speak to an adult? From what you have described to me, she'll need CPR started on her as soon as possible."

"I'm her teacher! I can do it!" I yelled. There was a yearning inside me to say I was her date, but I knew that that would cause numerous problems.

"Are you certified? If not, can you stay with her sir? The paramedics are on their way."

"Yes, I am. Thanks, I'll start CPR now." I whispered. My phone fell out of my hand as I stared at Aria's face. Immense fear was etched on her face, and I couldn't stop thinking about how scared she must have been. I had never done CPR on an actual person, and I knew I couldn't mess up.

I checked her airway, which was open. I started the chest compressions, counting in my head. _One and two and three and... Twenty-nine and thirty. _Pinching her nose, I titled her head back and lifted her chin. I placed my mouth on hers and blew in a breath of air, watching her chest rise from my peripheral vision. After five cycles of CPR, Aria still was unresponsive. I started becoming desperate. I knew that we would need an AED, but Aria was just so small, and it could hurt her.

I ran out of the room in search for help but staying close to the classroom.

"Hey!" I yelled to a young couple who were making out in a corner of the hallway.

They both jumped at the sight of me, and started to run in the opposite direction.

"No wait!" I screamed, but they were already gone.

I looked back at Aria, who was getting paler and paler by the minute.

_She needs me. She's going to be okay. She's going to be okay. _I knew I wasn't supposed to leave her, but I needed to get help, and fast. There was no other option.

I sprinted out of the room and back into the gym. A wave of anger passed through me, as I watched all the students and teachers dance without a care in the world.

I quickly spotted Mrs. Welch and ran up to her.

"Hey!" I yelled at her over the loud thumping of the music.

"We have an unconscious student in junior hall!" I said frantically.

"Oh my! Did you call 911?" She asked, while we sprinted back to my classroom. Well, I sprinted, she mostly just lagged behind.

"Yeah I did, they're on their way." I frantically whipped out my phone and dialed Ella's number.

"Hello?" a voice on the other line said.

"Ella. It's Ezra. There's been an emergency at the school. Aria got hurt and she's unconscious.. The paramedics will be here any minute." I said, as I crouched back down beside Aria.

No noise came from the other line.

"Ella? Ella? Are you there?" I asked, as I saw Mrs. Welch leave the room for a moment.

I felt tears falling down my face. I didn't wipe them away. At this point, I didn't care what anyone else thought. I only cared that Aria would be okay. Who in the world would want to do something like this to her? I thought.

"Oh my god. Is my baby okay?" Ella shrieked loudly.

"I don't know." I whispered.

"Well, tell me what's happening! I'll be there in two minutes!"

"Ella! I don't think that-" was all I managed to say before I heard a beep on the other line. I looked at my phone. Disconnected.

" _is __safe." _I finished the sentence inside my head. Looking back at Aria, I heard sirens fill the air.

"My head hurts." I heard Aria moan quietly.

"Oh my god. Aria! You're okay! You're going to be okay!" I was so happy she had regained consciousness.

"The paramedics will be here in a minute. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine." I said as she started crying. I took Aria's hand in mine and held it tightly. A few seconds passed before I heard a commotion outside my classroom. Mrs. Welch, Ella, and four of Rosewood Hospitals' paramedics entered the room. I quickly let Aria's cold hand fall from mine, so as not to arise any suspicion from Mrs. Welch or the paramedics.

My eyes became watery as I silently watched two of the paramedics lift Aria off of the floor and onto a stretcher. Ella followed the blonde paramedic into the vehicle. Naturally, I proceeded forward, following Ella inside the ambulance; however, I was stopped by one of the paramedics.

"Are you family?" He asked me.

"Uh-no." I looked at Ella with pleading eyes.

"Then you can't ride with us. Only family members allowed. Sorry, it's policy rules." He responded.

"Let him come." I heard Aria moan from inside the ambulance.

"Honey, I don't think-" One of the paramedics started to say.

"Let him come!" She said more firmly.

"It's okay, he can come. I'm sure that he'll be family soon enough." Ella sighed, looking back at me.

When we arrived at the hospital, Aria was wheeled over to the receptionist counter to get a bracelet, and then taken to a room in the back of the hospital.

Aria was placed on the bed. A bandage had been put on her head in the ambulance to stop the bleeding. Her heartbeat was back on a normal rhythm and aside from her head, there were only a few other minor injuries.

"We'll keep you in here overnight, so your head can start to heal, and just in case you lose consciousness again." The doctor said.

"Thank you doctor." Ella said, as he left the room.

Aria's POV

My head was pounding like a drum, and I felt kind of dizzy. Ella was looking out of the window of the room. All of a sudden, something struck me.

"Mom?" I asked suddenly.

"Yeah sweetie?"

"Where's my purse?"

"Um, I don't know." She responded.

"Ezra, did you happen to get my purse before we left the school?" I asked him.

"No, I didn't." He said slowly. I watched his facial expression change as he realized what he just said.

"Shit." He muttered.

"What's wrong?" Ella asked walking over to me.

"What's wrong, is that my camera is in my purse. Which has pictures of Ezra and I on it." I whispered.

"Aria, seriously? What were you two thinking? Do you realize how much trouble you would get Ezra in if anyone saw those?" She asked. "Just because you guys told Byron and I, doesn't mean that Ezra still won't get in trouble if you guys get caught!"

Aria looked down silently.

"I'll drive up to the school and get your purse. Hopefully no one took it." Ezra said. He gave me a quick kiss and left the room.

"Aria, what happened?" Ella asked me.

"I... I don't know. It was dark and someone came into the room. I thought it was Ezra or one of the girls, but the person wouldn't say a word. Then they slammed the door closed, and I tried to run out of the room but I tripped over something..." I sighed. "Then whoever it was hit me on the head or something, I can't really remember and I blacked out."

"You have no idea who it was?" She asked soothingly.

"No."

"Don't worry, honey. We'll figure it out." She rubbed my arm.

I gave her a small smile. I couldn't tell her the truth. I had a pretty good idea of who attacked me. It couldn't be anyone other than A.

"Mom, can I talk to Ezra alone for a minute?" I asked.

She looked at me skeptically. "Uh-yeah, sure, I guess."

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked me, once my mom left the room.

"I think I know who attacked me." I whispered, as I sat up in the bed.

"Did you see their face? Who was it? Didn't they have a mask on?" He frantically put both my hands in his.

"Yeah they did. I think... I think it was A." I choked as I started crying again.

"Aria, don't cry, it's all going to be okay. We're going to find out who this A person is and I'll kill them for what they've been doing to you."

"Ezra, do me a favor and don't kill anyone." I smiled. "I don't want you to go to jail."

He let out a small laugh.

"Want to do me another favor?" I asked sweetly.

"What is that?"

"Can you get me a glass of water please? You can tell my mom to come back in here." I laughed.

"Aria, have you told your mom... about A?" Ezra asked.

"No." I shook my head. "She would probably freak and kill every other person in the world until the real A is dead."

He let out a small chuckle, before giving me another kiss. Ezra pulled away when he started hearing a beeping coming from next to us.

"That machine obviously doesn't like me." Ezra said, as he started to walk out of the room.

I couldn't help but smile.


	21. Chapter 21

I was released from the hospital the next day. The ride home with my family was silent, due to the fact that no one had anything to say. They were all just relieved that I was okay and no permanent brain damage had been done. When we arrived at home, Ella walked with me up to my room, since I was still feeling a little dizzy from being on so many medications. I crawled into my bed and she tucked the blankets around my body.

"How are you feeling?" Ella sat down beside me on the corner of the bed.

"Much better but still a little dizzy." I responded.

"You'll feel better after you sleep a little bit." She assured me. "Goodnight sweetie." She kissed my forehead, an action she used to do all the time before tucking me into bed when I was younger.

As soon as she had closed the door behind her, I jumped out of bed and looked around for my purse. Finally, I found it, on top of my dresser buried under my Prom dress. Byron must have taken my stuff home from the hospital the night before.

I got back into bed and sent a quick text to Ezra, telling him I was all right and that I loved him. I plugged my phone into the charger. I was unable to keep my eyes open long enough to wait for his reply, leading me to quickly falling asleep.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of clanking and banging coming from downstairs. I quickly got out of bed before I made my way downstairs. I walked into the living room to find five half-full suitcases lined up side by side lying down in the middle of the room. I looked up and my eyes met a pair of gorgeous piercing blue eyes.

"Ezra!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" I ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"Ella told me to come over so I could help pack."

"I think we'll need it." I smiled. "My family is so bad at packing. They always forget the most important things behind and end up bringing things we don't need. Like a pair of binoculars, for example." I picked up the binoculars that were sitting on the coffee table. "What in the world do they think they're going to use this for?" I laughed.

"To see that things that are far away obviously." Ella walked into the room and snatched them from my hands.

"Mom." I whined. "There's nothing _far away_in Italy. Everything you go to visit will be right next to you." I walked over to the couch and sat down, bringing my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

"How are you feeling Aria?" Ezra asked, who was standing by the doorway.

"I'm much better now." I patted the area on the couch next to me signaling for Ezra to come sit next to me. He made his way around the suitcases and sat down beside me. I snuggled against him and he instinctively wrapped his arms around me.

"Look at you two lovebirds." Ella shook her head, with a smile on her face.

"I bet they can't wait to go to Italy. They won't have to hide anymore." Mike said, entering the room.

Ezra and Aria just smiled.

"Okay. This is so weird. You can like _feel_the love in this room because you two are in it." Mike laughed.

Suddenly, we all heard a loud crash come from the other side of the house. With an alarmed look on her face, Ella ran from the room.

"Byron? What happened?" She called.

I quickly shoved Ezra's arms off of me and leaped up from the couch, sprinting out of the room. I saw my father lying on his stomach at the bottom of the stairs with a book in his hand. He was moaning quietly. Ella was perched down by his side rubbing his back.

He slowly sat up, causing him to wince in pain.

"What just happened?" I heard Ezra's voice ask. I turned to see Mike and Ezra standing right behind me.

"He fell down the stairs." Ella replied as she helped Byron stand up. She let him over to the dining room since it was the room closest to the stairs and sat him down into a chair.

"Mike go get him an ice pack from the freezer." Ella commanded, as Mike left the room.

"Ow, my arm." Byron winced.

"What? What's wrong? Do you need to go to the hospital?" Ezra asked, walking over to Byron.

"Yeah, I think I might've broken my arm. It hurts a lot, and I can't move it... this way." Byron tried moving his arm up and down but stopped due to the amount of pain the motion caused.

"Our hospital bills are going to be over the moon this month." Ella sighed, as she left the room.

She came back with a blanket in her hands.

"Here, we can wrap your arm in this until you get a sling or cast depending on how bad it is." She helped him get up again and together they walked out to the car.

I spotted my mom's purse on the kitchen counter and quickly grabbed it. I ran outside with her purse in my hand.

"Mom!" I called. "You forgot your purse!" I ran up to the car that was halfway out the driveway.

"Thanks honey." She said.

"Let me know how he is." I handed Ella her purse before watching driving away again.

"Why is it," I said walking back into the living room where Ezra and Mike were now talking, "That every time I plan to go somewhere out of Rosewood with Ezra, something happens?" I huffed, putting my hands on my hips and surveying the area around me.

"Maybe Ezra's bad luck, sis." Mike replied sincerely, causing Ezra to laugh.

I punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! That hurt!" He rubbed his shoulder.

"Maybe _you're_bad luck." I replied.

"Whatever." Mike smiled, leaving the room.

"How long have you been here?" I looked up at Ezra.

"Just a few hours. You were completely knocked out when I came." Ezra laughed, walking over to me.

I smiled and put my arms around his neck. He put his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. Our lips met in a passion filled embrace. We stood like that for a few moments before I heard someone clear their throat. I pulled away from Ezra to see Mike standing in the doorway with a small smile on his lips.

"You guys _do_know that you're not the only ones in the house, right? Save it for the bedroom." He teased. "Actually... Maybe you shouldn't. Mom and dad would probably beat the crap out of both you and Ezra." He joked.

"Okay, first, thanks for ruining the moment. Second, we're not doing that. Third, you need to stop talking before something even more unintelligent comes out of your mouth. Fourth-" I unhooked my arms from around Ezra's neck.

"This is a hefty list." Mike muttered under his breath. Ezra smiled and nodded in agreement.

"What did mom make for breakfast? I'm starving."

"There are pancakes in the warming drawer waiting for you." Mike replied.

I took Ezra's hand and dragged him into the kitchen with me.

"Could you get that for me?" I asked Ezra, as I heard my phone ringing from the living room. I opened the warming drawer and the inhaled the yummy smell of freshly baked pancakes. I put them on a plate and grabbed the syrup and whip cream from the fridge.

"Yeah here you can talk to her." I heard Ezra say, as he walked back into the kitchen and handed me my phone.

"It's your mom." He said, as I took it from his hands.

"Hello?" I asked, while pulling open the silverware drawer to get a fork and knife.

"Aria. Byron's arm is definitely broken. They're putting a cast on right now. The doctor said he needs bed rest for a few days and that he shouldn't be doing anything that requires too much movement of the arms."

"Oh, that's too bad." I replied, while drizzling pancake syrup all over my pancakes.

I looked up to see Ezra, who had a look of pure love and amazement in his eyes. I smiled at him, causing him to smile widely back.

"We won't be able to go to Italy." I heard my mom say.

"What? Really? I was so looking forward to going!" I exclaimed, setting my fork down onto my plate.

"Let me finish! Your father and I talked about it, and we decided it would be okay if you and Ezra go instead. Mike can come too if he wants, although I'm not sure he'll want to go if it's just the three of you..." She trailed off.

"WHAT?" I exclaimed. "Really?"

"What? What did she say?" Ezra prodded.

I held a finger up to silence him, causing him to look away and tap his foot impatiently.

"Ask Mike if he wants to go, then you three can finish packing. We'll cancel me and Byron's ticket and we'll take you guys to the airport tonight."

"Really? Oh my gosh mom, thank you so much! Tell dad I hope he feels better!" I exclaimed, before hanging up the phone.

"Well?" Ezra asked, expectantly.

"Byron's getting a cast, but he'll be fine. He needs to rest and take it easy." I hinted.

"Okay..." He replied.

"_Meaning"_I emphasized, "That he can't come to Italy. Ella doesn't feel comfortable leaving him here alone and suggested that you and I go instead! And Mike too if he wants." I grinned widely.

"Really, Aria? That's great! We finally get to have our actual trip together." He gushed.

"Here, have a piece. I can't finish this." I cut a small piece of pancake and fed it to him.

Ezra ate it, then shook his head. "Mhmm I don't want it, I already ate." He smiled, as I got up and put my plate in the sink.

"C'mon. You can help me finish packing." I pulled him up from his chair and led him into my bedroom.

**Updated both my stories today! No school days really are the best! :) Review please! My birthday is Sunday, at it would make an amazing gift! :D **


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks for all the birthday wishes; you really are all so sweet! Here's the next chapter, sorry it took so long! I won't be able to update in a while after this because I have finals next week... I should probably be studying now :) **

"Aria, you're going to be late!" Mike yelled from downstairs.

"C'mon, we've got to go!" I exclaimed, as I tore myself away from Ezra's lips. I pushed Ezra's body off of me, so I could climb off the bed. We had been engaged in a heated make out session, despite my parents and brother downstairs. I grabbed Ezra's shirt, which had mysteriously ended up near my desk on the other side of the room and tossed it to him.

He pulled it over his head with a huge smile on his face. I grabbed my purse and his hand, leading him back downstairs. I fished around my purse for my sunglasses and slid them on.

"Honey, are you sure you have everything?" Ella asked, as I started wheeling my suitcase to the car.

"Yeah, mom!" I called, as I watched Ezra lift my heavy suitcase and put it alongside his in the trunk of my parents' car. My parents had offered to drop us off at the airport so that Ezra or I would not have to leave either of our cars there while we were gone.

I got into the car, and snuggled into his side. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. During the ride, we made small talk with my mom.

"Your dad wanted to come." My mom said.

"Well, he broke his arm, so there's not much he _can_do." I laughed.

"I don't know how he managed to do that." Ella shook her head in disbelief.

Ella parked the car near the front doors of the airport and Ezra and I handed our bags to an attendant to check them in.

"You guys are all set?" Ella asked. "Make sure you don't lose your boarding passes."

"If anyone were to lose it, it would be Ezra." I smiled at him.

"Hey! I'm not _that_messy!" Ezra defended himself, while handing me my purse from the car. I smiled as my mom gave me a long hug.

"I'll miss you sweetie. Have a good time. Skype us all the time." She released me, and then looked at Ezra. He gave her his boyish smile, and Ella extended her arms out towards him. He awkwardly gave Ella a hug back, while Ella whispered in his ear.

"Take good care of my baby girl, Ezra. If anything happens to her, it'll be your fault." Ezra lost his breath for a moment, but quickly regained it back, "No need to worry." He assured her. "I would never let anything happen to her." He looked at Aria in awe. "Thank you Ella, for all of this."

"Don't thank me Ezra, it was nothing. Have a good time." She responded.

I took Ezra's hand in mine and together we waved back to Ella, who was now leaving the airport.

"Bye mom, love you!" I called, before turning to Ezra.

"You ready?" Ezra asked me.

"Mhmm, just forgot one thing."

"What is it?" He asked worriedly.

I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him right then and there, not caring one bit that we were in public, with people scurrying all around us. I knew Ezra was thinking the same thing when I felt him smiling against my lips. I pulled away a moment later and slid my hand into his.

"Now I'm ready." I declared.

We walked through the airport, hand in hand, silently hoping and wishing that no one we knew would see us together here. We reached security and I groaned when I saw the long line.

"This is going to take forever." I said, watching Ezra take out his ID.

He smiled at my impatience.

"Patience is a virtue, honey."

I stuck my tongue out at him, causing him to laugh.

Ten minutes later, we finally reached the front of the line.

"Now that wasn't that bad, was it?" Ezra joked.

"Yeah it was." I playfully swatted Ezra's arm, before putting my purse on the x-ray conveyer belt. I held my breath as I walked through the metal detector, scared that it would go off. I jumped as I heard a loud ringing fill the air as the man next to me set his metal detector off. After Ezra and I successfully went through security, he looked at his watch.

"We've got about forty minutes to kill before we can start boarding." He said, taking hold of my hand again.

"Oh, god Ezra!" I gasped as I yanked on his hand, pulling his whole body into the nearest shop and quickly leading him to the back of it.

"What the heck was that about?" He asked, rubbing his arm where I had pulled so hard.

"S-sorry." I said, trying to conceal my giggles. "I saw Mona." His eyes widened in fear.

"No, its okay, she didn't see us... At least I don't think she did. But if anyone were to expose our secret, it would definitely be her." I said, leading him back out of the shop. I looked around for anyone we knew, spotting no one.

"The coast is clear, let's go!" I laughed as we started walking towards the gate.

We got in line to start boarding the flight. When we got to the front, the flight attendant didn't spot me standing behind Ezra.

"Sir, I need your boarding pass." She told him.

"I've got it." I spoke up, and handed her his and my pass. She tore off a piece of each of ours and handed them back to me.

"Here you go, sweetie." She said, as Ezra and I started walking through the big metal tunnel towards the entrance of the plane.

We reached the front, and the pilot gave us a warm smile.

"Have a safe flight, honey." She told me.

"Do I really look that young?" I asked Ezra. "They keep calling me honey, sweetie... What's next? Pumpkin?" I said exasperatedly.

He just laughed as we found our seat; row 6, seats A and B.

"Do you want the window?" Ezra asked, before filing into the row.

"Yes please." I smiled sweetly at him, before shuffling into the row and sitting down. Ezra sat down beside me as I dug through my purse for all the essentials.

"Do you want your book?" I asked Ezra, as I handed him his tattered old copy of our favorite book, _To Kill a Mockingbird._I dug through my purse once again, looking for my iPod. My hand hit something fat, and I pulled it out, revealing a thick envelope with my name on the front.

"Who's that from?" Ezra tried to identify the handwriting, but came up empty.

I tore it open, to find my mom's visa and a huge stack of cash. Behind all the money was a short note:

_Aria, I forgot to give this to you at the house. The money is for all expenses, and the credit card is if you run out. Don't let Ezra pay for anything. Let this trip be Byron and my little treat. Have fun and be safe. Stay with Ezra at all times. We love you._

_Mom_

I handed the note to Ezra before he asked me, "How much money is_in there_?"

"A lot." I said, in disbelief. He quickly read the note and handed it back to me.

"You should put that all away so it doesn't get lost."

"Excuse me?" I said playfully as I put the envelope back into the bottom of my bag. "Last time I checked, you're the one who loses things, not me." I took out my iPod and book and put my purse underneath the seat in front of me.

After ten minutes of instructional videos of how to put a seatbelt on and how to use the seat as a life preserver, the plane finally left for takeoff. I turned my iPod on, and snuggled into Ezra's side, wanting to sleep the whole eight and a half hours. He wrapped one arm around me, using the other to hold the book he was reading. The lights in the plane dimmed, and I quickly fell into a peaceful slumber.

**Mostly fluff; this was basically a filler chapter I needed before the actual trip. Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think with a review, please! :) Help me reach 100! :) **


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm so so so sorry for how long it's taken me to update. I'm focusing so much on my other story Late Nights. I really am ****SO**** sorry. **

**Also, I'm realizing right now how overused as a vacation spot Italy is. I was going to use either Italy or France, since I've been to both and it would be easier to write about those places versus somewhere I've never been. I think I'm going to continue with the Italy storyline though.**

Aria's POV 

"Ezra! We're here!" I exclaimed as the plane started to descend into the popular vacation hotspot.

"We have now arrived in Rome, Italy." The voice of the flight attendant came over the loudspeaker. "The temperature is a nice 82 degrees and the time is now 11:43am."

Ezra turned to me with a huge smile on his face.

"We're going to document every second of this whole trip!" I reached into my bag and took out my camera. I quickly took a picture of Ezra and I still in the plane, with huge smiles on our faces.

I gave Ezra a peck on the lips, before we got ready to get off of the plane.

We gathered our bags and waited for the people ahead of us to get off the plane. As we walked through the airport terminal, I could barely contain my excitement. I was in Italy, with my boyfriend! This vacation could not get any better.

…PLL…

"This room is amazing!" I exclaimed as I sprawled my petite body out on the king size bed in the center of the bedroom. Ezra emerged from the bathroom a moment later.

"There is a TV in the bathroom mirror. Literally." He laughed.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" I jumped up from the bed and raced to the bathroom. I was in awe when I saw the anchorwoman for the Italian news on channel 2 in the mirror.

"That is… _so _ cool. We are definitely getting one of those in our house." I told him. He just smiled in response at my over eagerness.

The time difference suddenly caught up to me as I tried to stifle a huge yawn. I failed in trying to make it go unnoticed by Ezra, who came over to the bed and sat beside me.

"Do you want to take a nap?" He asked me. "You look exhausted." He traced one of the dark circles under my eyes with his thumb.

I nodded in response as I got up and searched through my suitcase for a pair of shorts and a tank top to sleep in. I crawled into the huge bed moments later. Ezra joined me and I curled my body against his as I fell into a peaceful sleep.

…PLL…

"Do you want to go out and just walk around?"

"Let me just take a shower and we can go." I agreed. "Would you like to join me?" I winked at him, causing him to blush.

"I would love to." He grinned widely as we both entered the bathroom.

Twenty minutes and a steamy shower later, I found myself hovering over my huge suitcase looking for something to wear.

I settled on a short black dress with a white belt at the waist. I paired it with a pair of black sandals.

I walked into the bathroom and fixed my hair, leaving it down and letting it flow naturally. I applied some make up as Ezra changed into cargo shorts and a polo.

"Ready to go?" Ezra came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He placed a kiss on the top of my head. I picked up my camera from the coffee table near the flat screen TV, and placed it inside my purse. After making sure I had a room key in my purse, Ezra and I left our hotel room, leading us to the front of the hotel to hail a cab.

We ended up roaming the rocky streets of Rome. I was glad I wore sandals and not heels because the streets were made of rocks. Literally.

Ezra and I walked hand in hand, down a random street. People scurried around us for unknown destinations, large groups of kids listened to their tour guides explaining the history of Rome, lovers sat together at the tables outside the small restaurants everywhere. I dug into my purse looking for my sunglasses, to protect my eyes from the sun's strong rays.

"How nice is this?" I turned to Ezra and smiled, gesturing towards our intertwined hands. "No one knows that we're teacher and student here. No can judge us for that."

"I know." He nodded in agreement. "But do me a favor, and don't think about that. We have this whole vacation to spend together. There's no need to worry about things that don't matter."

"Yeah, I guess not." We continued walking down the stone path, not paying attention to where we were going. We conversed about different things, like school and family.

"So when are you going to take your break from Rosewood?" I asked him, as I swung our hands back and forth between us.

"I'm thinking at the end of this term. I'll take one or two terms off. I haven't decided yet."

"Are you even allowed to do that? Take a break from teaching?"

"Honestly, I don't know. But I'm sure that I can find a way to do it." He shrugged.

"I'll miss seeing you in class everyday." I confessed.

"I'll make it up to you. You can come over whenever you want. And right now…" He led me away from path we were traveling to a small gelato shop. "I'll buy you gelato. They have the best gelato here." He gushed.

We entered the small shop and my mouth began watering as I saw all the delicious flavors. After we both got our gelato, we resumed walking along the same stone path we had previously been on.

"Mhmm. This is amazing." I closed my eyes in bliss as I licked my ice cream again.

"Told you so." He laughed as he took my hand in his again.

"You've been here before?" I was a bit astonished. Ezra had never mentioned that he had been to Italy before.

"Um, yeah." He muttered. For some odd reason, he suddenly seemed uncomfortable.

"When?" I asked.

"Uh, over a year ago. Look, can we not talk about it? It wasn't a good experience." He confessed.

I was a bit taken aback by his words. He seemed really bothered that I asked him about it, but I dismissed the thought. Normally, Ezra would have been eager to tell me of his past experiences in Europe. When we met, our similarities in travels out of the country were one of the things we were able to converse so easily about.

We continued walking down the path in an awkward silence, due to our previous conversation. His sudden anxiety over my simple question started bothering me. Why did his mood change so suddenly? Why was it such a bad experience, that he did not even want to tell me about it?

I tried not to stress myself out over it. I knew that he would tell me when he was ready. And that clearly was not now.

"So what do you want to go visit tomorrow?" Ezra asked me, breaking the awkward silence between us.

"The leaning tower." I said, my eyes lighting up at the thought. Since I was young, I had always dreamed of climbing it.

"Leaning tower it is." He smiled. A moment later, he looked at me skeptically. "Aria, I thought you were scared of heights."

I turned towards him in astonishment that he remembered such a fact about me. I had not mentioned my fear of heights since the first week we met.

"Since you are with me, I think I will be able to handle it. As long as you promise to catch me if I fall off the top." I giggled.

"You can't fall off the top. There's a wall and ropes." He laughed. "You would have to be _ very _clumsy to be able to fall off the top."

The path we were traveling ended up leading us to a secluded beach. As I looked around, I realized that it was completely deserted. The clear blue waters of the ocean were calm. The sand was warm from the blazing sun, and the seagulls flew above the water, eagerly singing their song. The sunset reflected against the waters, making an amazing sight to see.

"It's beautiful." I whispered to Ezra. I dug out my camera from my purse and snapped a picture of the beautiful ocean view.

He led me towards the water, as he slipped his flip flop off his right foot and dipped his toes into the water.

"It's warm." He assured me. I took my sandals off my feet and dug my toes into the warm sand. We walked hand in hand along the edge of the ocean, our sandals dangling from our other hands. I continued snapping photo's of anything and everything that were around us. Most of the pictures, however, were of Ezra and I. Ezra giving me a piggyback ride, Ezra soaked to the bone from when I pushed him into the water, Ezra kissing my cheek, and more. I knew that all these would end up in an amazing scrapbook, most likely made by my mother.

Ezra and I spent the next hour at that little beach, in our own little piece of heaven. I was with Ezra in Italy, and no one here could judge us for being together. Our day could not have ended in a more perfect way.

**I apologize for this chapter being so short! Hope you guys liked it though, please review! **


	24. note

Hey guys,

I know that no one likes a quitter, but I'm deleting this story. I've lost interest in it, and it has no storyline. If anyone is interested, I don't mind giving it to someone else to finish, but by the looks of it, that won't be happening.

Again, I'm so sorry, but I believe that you guys should only get my best work and something that I'm not interested in is going to be far from it.

Sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope you guys enjoy my other stories!


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